Cause and Effect
by Kateko
Summary: OMGWTFCH7! Daphne Greengrass had a simple summer fling over holiday. What happens when she finds him in Hogwarts? DGSF
1. On Holiday

**On Holiday**

**A/N: **You know how artists do "art trades" where they each draw a request for the other? Well, I often have trouble getting plot ideas. What I need is a simple request to start me off, and then I can go wild and mix it up all over.

So a friend of mine and a fellow HP fan and fanfiction author (WitchwannaB on Mugglenet) and I decided we'd do a _fanfic _trade. We'd each give each other a simple request, and then we'd write a fanfic based on that. My request for her was a Draco/Harry fic. She knew that my personal favorite character in Harry Potter was Daphne Greengrass, mentioned in a single sentence ever (she's become my muse and I've given her much more characterization. She's like a canon OC!). So her criteria for me: "A Daphne Greengrass fic, where she gets hit on by Seamus." So - here goes nothing.

coughs this is going to be one hella-long one shot. (And/or first chapter.)

**Requirements:**

-it must follow the criteria given

-it must _begin _as a one-shot. It can be continued afterwards if the author wishes.

-the criteria must be in the first chapter (due to rule 2)

-any slash fics must include snogging (Hey, _she _asked.)

**DISCLAIMER: **In this chapter, the only HP characters actually mentioned in the book that are in this fanfic are Seamus and Daphne. (Though Daphne is mentioned only once, in one sentence, and only because alphabetically, "Greengrass" is close to "Granger".) Those two belong to J.K. Rowling, but everything other than Daphne's name and Seamus Finnigan are _mine! _...yes. Okay. Moving on.

---------------

"Are we there yet?" Daphne Greengrass asked, lazily laying her legs across the backseat of the disgusting small, revoltingly slow, and repulsively ugly Muggle car. They'd been driving for half an hour - she couldn't imagine any mode of Wizard transportation that could take nearly this long to go only this far. Her mother turned and gave Daphne an irritated glare. "Well, I'm sorry, but why are we even _going_ here?"

"I thought you wanted a vacation, Daph," her father said, semi-distracted by trying to work the controls of the car.

Daphne sighed. "Yes! But not some _Muggle _vacation! I'm going back to Hogwarts in just a few weeks. I don't want to waste time in Muggle-land."

"Daphne, your father and I received a large donation from a Muggle company," Daphne's mother explained slowly and for the fourth time. "This is a business meeting, so that we can hope to acquire more of such generosity in the future."

"A business meeting?" Daphne repeated suspiciously.

"Yes."

"In Ireland."

"...yes, Daphne, that's where their business is located," her now-irritated mother replied.

Daphne sighed again. She hadn't understood why her parents' business had a Muggle branch. They'd given her a reason - but she couldn't remember it and didn't entirely care. All she knew was lately her parents had been traveling around the world to go to various events pertaining to their business - some of which were Wizarding events, but most of which were Muggle-hosted. This was the first time Daphne had been dragged along - and she already had a good idea of what she _didn't _want to do when she got out of Hogwarts. It ran in her family that they would all be Slytherins - but she was killing early any plans for a tradition of businessmen (and women).

"Let it be said," Daphne announced, coming out of her thoughts, "That I have no intention of ever accompanying you on one of these stupid Muggle trips ever again."

"That's nice, dear," Mr. Greengrass said tiredly.

"And I cannot guarantee that I will be mentally whole after this drive is over," she added.

"What about the drive back?" Mrs. Greengrass asked.

Daphne shrugged, playing with the ends of her hair. "I'll probably become a homicidal psychopath, bent on destruction and demise," she decided. "I'll lose my mind to boredom and start imagining things. Voices in my head will lead me to darkness and I'll spend the remainder of my days in Azkaban."

"I'm sure that's_ exactly _what will happen."

"Are we there yet?"

"So help me, Daphne, if you say that one more time we'll drive you all the way to America. All the way across the Pacific Ocean."

Daphne let out yet another sigh and slumped back in her corner. A moment of silence passed before Daphne stuck her head between the front seats and looked at her mother. "Mum, look, I think my eye's twitching. This ride is giving me spasms."

Daphne's mother responded by pulling out her wand and facing it at Daphne's face. "_Silencio._" Daphne's eyes grew wide as she slumped back, now silent.

The rest of the ride was quietly pleasant - at least, for her parents.

--

"Eileen?" came a shout. A dark-haired man in a suit came hurrying up to Daphne's mother the moment they stepped foot in the lobby of the tall hotel they'd parked that infernal vehicle next to.

"Ah, Mr. Byrne," Mrs. Greengrass replied pleasantly, shaking the man's hand. "You haven't met my husband or daughter yet, have you?"

"Well, I've spoken to Darren," the man answered, smiling a nod at him, "But never seen him face to face. And I didn't know you had a daughter - you two seemed far too young!"

Mrs. Greengrass' smile grew and she put a flattered hand to her chest. "Why, thank you," she said cheerfully.

Daphne tried her best not to roll her eyes, failing quickly but managing to put on a smile by the time her mother was motioning to her.

"This is my daughter, Daphne."

Mr. Byrne held out his hand. "Well, I can see where you get your good looks from."

Daphne tried her best not to sound sarcastic when she thanked him and shook his hand, then stepped back. Part of her regretted not giving some smartass answer, but another part of her knew that her mother would be furious and just might make true on that drive across the Pacific.

Mr. Byrne handed her father a small plastic card. "This is the key to your room," he said. "You're in 314." He pointed to a nearby elevator. "It's been very nice to meet you."

"Good to see you again, Blair," Mrs. Greengrass nodded and the three walked into the elevator.

The door closed in front of them, and Mr. Greengrass took his daughter by the wrist as the three apparated into their hotel room.

Daphne glanced around the room. "Can I go home now?" she said disdainfully. The walls were ugly, the carpet was ugly, the bed stands were ugly, the curtains were ugly, the lamps were ugly, and the beds were tiny - and ugly.

"No, Daphne. We want to bring you to the dinner tonight," her father said as he charmed the contents of his suitcase into various drawers around the room.

Daphne stared at her father. "I can't stay in this room for that long. Can I at least go out, look around?" she begged.

Her father turned to face her. "Daphne-"

"Pleeeease?" Pleading tone. Puppy eyes. Clasped hands. It was a fail proof scheme.

"Alright. Fine. But...here," he said, taking a small silver gadget out of his pocket and showing it to her. "It's a device Muggles use. It's a portable communication device - it's called a cell phone. I'd show you how it works, but you don't need to know," he said. "Just know that if it starts making noise or ringing, open it - see, it flips open like this - and put it up to the side of your head, like this. See, this end broadcasts noise, and this end records your voice. ...that way you can talk to whoever's calling you. Get it?"

Daphne nodded slowly. "I think so."

"And if you're in a loud area, try to find somewhere quieter," he added. He took a small wallet out of his suitcase, opened it, and pulled a good chunk of Muggle money out of it, as well as some plastic cards. He then handed her the wallet. "Here, it's got Muggle money in it."

"Thank you, daddy!" she said, opening her own suitcase and pulling out a dark green tank top (even in Muggle area, she had to show her Slytherin pride at least a little bit) and some white capris. She hurried into the bathroom - which was ugly, so it went with the rest of the hotel room - and changed, grabbing a black leather purse. She was about to hurry out the door when she stopped and grabbed her wand, then muttered a quick removal of the charm concealing the silver highlights in her brown hair.

--

The city they were in wasn't very big, and Daphne hadn't bothered to learn the name. Even though the city seemed rather industrial, with lots of tall grey buildings and cars and other irritating Muggle city things, there were hills and even some farms just past the city's borders. Daphne had soon learned there was very little of interest in the city, until she found a park at the edge of the city.

It was really just a lake with some benches and a vending machine. The vending machine looked simple enough, but she had no idea what the money in her wallet was worth and didn't want to mess something up. That and she was waiting for someone to come along and use it.

Eventually, though, her thirst got the better of her. She took some of the coins out of the wallet and stood there, comparing the little pictures on the machine to what she held in her hand. She took a deep breath and put a big gold and silver one into the slot. 2 euro. ...crap - that was too many, the drink she wanted was only one. She looked around and found an unlabeled button. She pushed it and the coin fell into a little slot at the bottom. She picked it up again. Okay, that was too many.

Someone laughed behind her. "Not from around here?"

She gasped and whirled around. Standing there with an eyebrow raised was a boy about her age - maybe a year off, she wasn't very good at guessing ages. He had blondish hair - that kind of oh-so-slightly brownish blonde that nobody could agree on a name for but was still definitely blonde. His eyes were clearly and unarguably green, though. Her favorite color. _Hey, I have green eyes too, _she thought. He tilted his head and she realized she'd forgotten to reply. Whoops.

"Oh. Uh. No, not so much," she stammered. _Mouth 1, Brain 0,_ she thought before turning back to the vending machine. "Which coin gets me soda?" she asked.

He took a step closer, and Daphne blushed. It only lasted a moment, though - one thing Slytherins were good at was covering up emotions. "That one," he said, pointing to a coin she was holding.

Putting the other coins back into the wallet, Daphne quickly regained her composure. "Thanks," she said quickly, pushing the coin into the slot. She stepped back to look at the selection, and bumped right into him. Oh yeah, he was still behind her. "Oh my god, I'm sorry," she said quickly, turning back around to face him. Damn, her face was turning red again.

He laughed. "S'fine," he replied, looking over her. Daphne suddenly realized he was about half a head taller than she was. "Which one you getting? Meself, I prefer the red one."

Daphne nodded, trying to get her face to return to a natural color. _He has an Irish accent, _she thought quickly before replying. _I don't know that I like Ireland, but I do love Irish accents..._ "Are the green ones any good?" she asked, tilting her head and pointing at a green can in the machine. She had no idea what these Muggle drinks tasted like, she just knew they were sodas (due to the word "SODA" printed on the machine in gigantic letters).

He looked at her. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I like green."

"Yeah, those're good too."

Daphne leaned over and pushed the button with the green can on it, and the machine began making some horrible whirring noises. Daphne was about to turn and ask if that's supposed to happen, when a can clanked out into the hole at the bottom. _Guess that IS supposed happen, then,_ she thought as she bent down to pick it up.

As she stood up again, she realized something. You had to do something special to _open _these cans, and she had no idea what it was. She'd had Muggle soda a few times before, but every time she'd just magicked the little hole open. She couldn't exactly do that now, not with someone right there. "Er," she said, looking up at him.

He looked surprised, but he grinned. He took the can from her hands, flipped something on the top, and handed it back. "You don't know how to open a soda can?"

"I've never had to before," she said with a shrug, taking a drink. She walked to the nearest bench and sat down, and was pleased to see that he'd followed her.

"Where _are_ you from, anyway?"

She caught herself before she named any Wizarding locations. "Er, London."

"They don't open soda cans in London?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

_I wish I could do that, _Daphne thought._ I can only raise both eyebrows. Not just one. Dad can raise one...maybe I'll ask him how someti-_

"Hello?"

"Oh! Sorry. I just took a long car trip up here, and I'm not so good with long car trips. Or any car trips. I don't like cars. So...I'm a bit out of it now."

"You didn't answer me question," he reminded her.

Daphne paused a moment to remember what he'd asked. "Right. Well, I don't usually drink soda. I made an exception today because I'd been staring at a lake."

He watched her questioningly.

"Well, when watching large bodies of water, one of two things will happen. You'll either become incredibly thirsty, or you'll instantly have to use the bathroom."

He laughed. "Never thought of that," he said. "Lived most of me life with water somewhere nearby. Guess I'm used to it."

Daphne smiled, then a thought struck her. "What's your name?" she asked suddenly.

"Seamus. You?"

At that moment, she was interrupted by metallic music coming from her pocket. It took her only a second to realize it was the cell phone her father had given her. She pulled it out of her pocket and almost dropped it. She caught it and fumbled to flip it open. She finally did, and the music stopped. Still a bit startled, she held it up to the side of her head only to realize a split second later it was upside down.

"Er. Dad?" she said, finally having it properly aligned to her ear and hoping she was using it right.

"Daph, time to come home now," the phone announced in her father's voice.

"Dad, I just left ten minutes ago."

"It's time to get ready. The dinner starts earlier than I thought."

"Alright. Fine."

"Goodbye. 

"Bye."

There was a pause.

"Just shut the phone, Daph."

"...Right. Knew that. Bye."

"Bye."

Daphne flipped the phone shut and tucked it back into her pocket, then noticed Seamus watching her. "What?"

"You can work a cell phone, but you can't open a soda can."

Daphne stuck out her tongue. "That was my dad, I have to head back to the hotel now," she explained, standing up.

Seamus stood too. "You know the way?"

Daphne frowned. "Um." She glanced up at him. "Not exactly."

"Do you know the name of the place you're staying at?" he asked.

"High...something."

"Is it nearby?"

Daphne thought a moment, feeling a bit stupid for not remembering where she was staying. "Yeah."

"High Rock Hotel?"

Daphne grinned. "Yeah! That's it!" She remembered, now, scoffing to her mother at the hotel's odd name.

"I know where that is. Only a few blocks away. I could take you," Seamus offered.

"Oh, thank god," Daphne sighed.

Seamus headed back towards the city, and Daphne followed. It had always intrigued her to think about a tiny detail or coincidence that threw off or changed an entire sequence of events. For instance, just now - had she not decided to buy a soda, she wasn't sure if Seamus would still have come to talk to her. Or if she hadn't come by this park, if she'd just turned left on a street where she turned right - it was all the same to her, random chance - she'd have gotten lost and wouldn't have some cute Irish boy to save her. She smiled to herself. She hadn't really noted it before, though clearly she'd just thought it - so she'd obviously registered it and just hadn't actually thought about it. But he _was _cute..._and_ he had an Irish accent.

Not expecting him to talk, Daphne started when he asked, "So why're you in Ireland?"

"Business." She paused, then laughed. "Ah, not mine. My parents. They're here on a business...thing, and they took me along."

"Against your will, it sounds."

Daphne huffed. "I don't like cars."

"So that's why you're heading back to the hotel now? Business thing?"

Daphne nodded, which was pointless since she was walking _behind _Seamus and he couldn't see her. "Yeah. They're having some sort of dinner and they want to show me off. Or show us off. It's probably a sort of 'Look, we're great business owners _and _we have a daughter! Look how pleasant she is!'"

Seamus nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Me dad's dragged me on a few of his trips." He rolled his eyes. "Long car rides. You'd hate it."

Daphne laughed. "I'd go insane," she agreed.

The two stopped in front of the hotel building. "We're here," Seamus said.

Disappointed, Daphne stared at the sign. The walk had gone faster than she'd hoped. "...oh."

There was a lull in the conversation before Seamus looked back at her. "When does the dinner get out?"

"Oh, uh...eight...ish? I wasn't listening. I didn't think I'd have any good reason for knowing." She sighed. _Curse me and my attention span,_ she chided internally. "But I think it's sometime around eight. Maybe eight-thirty."

"Well, if you want, we could meet back up afterwards. At the park, if you remember how to get there."

She wasn't sure she did, but she didn't plan to let that stop her. "Yeah, we should do that," she agreed.

"See you somewhere around eight," Seamus said with a smile, turning to leave.

"Wait," Daphne said as something occurred to her. Seamus stopped and turned back. "My name's Daphne. Didn't get to say that earlier," she explained, opening the front door and hurrying in.

--

"Daphne, sit up straight," Mrs. Greengrass hissed.

Daphne complied, rolling her eyes. "But mum," she whispered back, "That implies that I care what this old man is talking about."

It turned out the owner of the company they were visiting was holding the dinner in his overly-fancy mansion's backyard (which, like his house, was too large). There were tables set up al around the area, surrounded by cheap plastic lawn chairs, and a buffet sat covered by large royal blue sheets off to the side.

The host had begun a speech of welcome fifteen minutes ago, and had yet to cease talking. Daphne wondered if any potential business partners would turn down any prospect of the two companies forming any sort of anything, for fear of having their ears talked off by a man who reminded Daphne of what she imagined a 75-year-old Leprechaun would look like.

Daphne sighed, playing with the end of her skirt. Her mother had insisted she change into something more pleasant, so she now wore a dark green knee-length skirt with a ruffled hem, and a black sleeveless sweater.

Upon her return to the hotel, she'd been greeted with a cry of shock. "Daphne, your hair!" her mother had objected upon realizing Daphne had revealed her silver streaks. "For goodness sake, now I have to hide them again. Where's my wand? I won't have my daughter looking like this at such an important event."

So now her hair was, once more, a solid brown again. Despite what most people assumed, she didn't use a charm to make her streaks appear. Rather, she had bought a potion that made the streaks grow into her hair. Instead of using a charm to create the streaks, she used a charm to hide them. She'd have to remember to remove the charm before she went to meet Seamus again.

"I won't have you acting rude and obnoxious here, Daphne," her mother threatened quietly. "You'll lose privileges."

"I'm sitting up!" Daphne complained, staying hushed not out of respect for the speaker, but out of fear of her mother's punishments.

The speech ended just then, and the yard was filled with applause.

"Do we get to eat now?" Daphne asked, beginning to stand.

Mrs. Greengrass let out a tortured sigh. "_Yes, _Daphne, we can _eat _now."

Daphne let out a small cheer and hurried over to the buffet table, the sheets now removed, and was back at the table with a full plate in a matter of moments. She busied herself with her mashed potatoes, trying to make sure that nobody would come and try to talk to her.

"So, you're Eileen and Darren's daughter, right?" someone asked in an overly-nice voice.

Daphne closed her eyes and counted to five in her head, then looked up to see an incredibly overweight woman in her fifties sitting across from her and wearing more makeup than should be physically or legally possible.

She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, and then vaguely recalled her parents emphasizing the importance of being nice to potential business partners. "Er. Yes. That'd be me."

The woman let out a laugh. "Oh, your parents are just the _nicest _people. Your father's _simply hilarious, _I'm sure you're _so_ lucky to have someone like him. Kept me in _stitches _the whole time I was talking to him when we last spoke."

Daphne gave what she hoped was a pleasant smile, or at least a cleverly disguised grimace. "Oh, so you've spoken to him before?

"Oh! Yes, yes, yes! I haven't mentioned it, have I? I'm in charge of the branch your parents are here about." She leaned forward and looked very pleased with herself. "I know what you are, you see, your family. My husband's brother was one, too. So your parents thought I would do well to be in charge of the branch with, ah, we normal people."

Daphne raised her eyebrows. "Normal people?"

The woman gasped. "Oh, dearie, I'm not trying to say you're abnormal! I mean that you have talents that we don't." She shook her head. "That was the wrong thing to say."

"Yeah, it was," Daphne agreed, her irritation beginning to show.

"Ah, well, I must be going. Much work to do, all in a day's work! Ta!" she stood and hurried away, and Daphne shook her head. _At least she REALIZED she'd said something stupid, _she thought with a sigh.

The next hour and a half stretched on horribly, with Daphne trying her hardest not to be rude to her parents' employees and her parents occasionally stopping in and checking on her sanity levels.

"Dad, what time is it?" she asked, the next time her father stopped by to check in.

"Oh, about that time."

"Dad, what time is it?" she repeated.

"Time for you to get a watch."

"Dad…"

He smiled. "Sorry. It's about eight."

Daphne managed to catch herself and switch to a desperately bored look instead of a frantic one. "Dad, I've been here for almost two hours. I have tolerated your Muggle employees, despite the fact that they are, in majority, rather obnoxious. This I have done for you. Now I ask you a favor. _Please, _let me go back to the hotel. I can fake a headache. Say I wasn't feeling well. I had homework. Something, just please let me go back." She brought back her puppy eyes. "Please, daddy? I didn't get to finish my walk."

"…I don't know, Daph. I- well, I suppose we can say you were feeling a bit under the weather. I'll drive you back."

"Thank you!" she said, throwing her arms around him, then pulling back into a fake coughing fit.

Her father apologized to the host and promised to return shortly, then drove a rather thankful Daphne back to the hotel.

"Take the cell phone," he reminded her as her leather purse appeared by her side. "It's in there."

Daphne grinned. "Thank you, daddy. Oh! Wait, could you…" she pointed to her hair, and her father nodded. With a flick of his wand, the silver streaks returned to her hair. She waved as he drove off, then instantly started hurrying towards the park - walking as fast as she could without breaking her ankle in her heels.

--

"Seamus!" Daphne called, waving from behind him. He'd been sitting at the bench, watching some ducks do nothing in particular.

"Oh, thank god," he said, turning to face her. "There is absolutely nothing to do here alone."

She grinned, sitting next to him. "I'm sorry I took so long. It was hell there."

"What time did it end?"

"I don't know. I had to leave early to save my own sanity." She shook her head, smiling. "I think they found the most irritating people in all of Great Britain and put them in one yard, then told them all to try and talk to _me_."

"Try?" Seamus raised an eyebrow again. "Don't like talking to people?"

Daphne nodded slightly, retying a thin bow on her skirt that had come undone. "I don't like to talk to strangers."

"What about me?" Seamus asked.

He had a point. She hadn't tried to blow him off like she usually would. She hadn't given some sarcastic retort and ignored him. Normally - even under the circumstances - she'd have avoided asking for help and just continued trying coin after coin until she figured it out. "I don't know," she admitted.

After that, they just talked. It wasn't small talk, it just didn't have much direction. Eventually they ran out of things to talk about, so Daphne stared at the lake. It was reflecting the very beginnings of a sunset, and looked very pretty reflecting the sort of purple-blue sky. She was sorely tempted to go swimming in it, even though she knew it would probably be freezing. But she could still go, at least wade in if she took off her shoes. Oh, but wait, she was wearing a skirt, so she-

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Seamus asked suddenly, cutting off her thoughts.

"What!"

He shook his head. "Sorry. Dumb question."

"No! Ah…no. No, I don't." She replied intelligently. _Geez. Think I said "no" enough times..?_ "Er, why?"

"Because if you don't," he said, "I can do _this_."

He leaned forward and their lips met. Daphne quickly suppressed a gasp.

So she did the logical thing to do when being kissed by a cute Irish boy would do. She kissed him back.

They pulled away, and there was a silence for a moment. Leaning back and watching the sunset, Daphne commented, "Right now, I'm _glad _I don't have a boyfriend." She turned to look at him. "I'm going to assume you don't have a girlfriend, then."

Seamus looked surprised. "What? Oh, er, yeah, I do, actually."

Daphne's eyes widened. "Excuse me?" She faltered, then stopped as she watched a grin spread across his face. He began laughing. He'd been joking. She scowled and slapped him playfully on the arm. "I should-- throw you in the lake for that."

_That was a close save…_ She had been half a second away from saying she'd hex him. Rule number one - no Wizarding slang in the Muggle world. But speaking of throwing people in lakes, the sunset was making it sparkle beautifully. She was once more tempted to swim, but still. The skirt. Her evil hindrance. She stood up.

"What?" Seamus asked, watching her.

Right, She'd forgotten to change the subject. "The lake looks pretty," she said, walking towards it.

She didn't see Seamus' face, but she heard him stand up as well. "It looks like a lake."

"A pretty one." She stepped into the water and my shoe sunk down into the mud. When she pulled it back up, her foot slipped out of the sandal. Daphne sighed, reaching down and tugging her shoe from the lake bottom. Most things slimy disgusted her, but lake bottoms were just fine. It was most likely her love of water - slimy mud meant she was wading in a lake. Wading in a lake meant happiness. She rinsed her shoe off in the water and removed her other one, setting them off to the side.

"You're going wading?" he asked incredulously.

She turned around. "Why not?"

He blinked. "I don't know…it's just…the lake isn't cold?"

"I'll get used to it." She stepped into the lake and her toes sunk down into the slime. Seamus was right, it was cold, but in a sort of nice way.

Seamus shook his head and sat back down on the bench.

"What, you're not joining me?" Daphne asked with a pout, turning back.

He snorted. "Of course not. I actually _care _about me health." Daphne grinned at this little reminder of his ever-present Irish accent.

"Water is healthy!"

"Pneumonia isn't."

She made a face and waded in deeper. It was _freezing. _

"You going to be smart and come back out now?" he asked, daring her to give up.

_Well if I was before, I'm sure not going to now,_ Daphne thought with a sigh. She was horrible with that kind of thing. Reverse psychology was her biggest weakness.

"No," she said simply, reaching down and running my fingers through the water.

He sighed, leaning back. "You're going to freeze," he taunted.

Daphne laughed. "What, you don't like water?"

"I don't like wading in it when it must be two degrees."

"You're just scared," she taunted, feeling especially mature.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm just warm and comfortable. Much more so than you."

She glared. The cogs in her brain were turning, and she had an idea. She stomped out of the water.

"Finally saw me point?" he asked. She didn't reply, just grabbed his wrist and pulled him up and towards the lake. He must have been too warm and comfortable to react, because he didn't realize what she was doing for a moment. A moment was enough to get him to the edge of the lake.

"Wait, no!" he said, finally realizing her scheme.

"It took you that long to figure out I was trying to drag you into a lake?" she asked, raising her eyebrows - both of them - and laughing.

"I was too busy feeling victorious that I got you out of the lake," he said.

"Celebrating a bit early."

"I don't think so." He turned his hand around and where Daphne had his wrist, he grabbed hers. He took a few steps back and tugged her wrist, and she stumbled towards him and away from the lake, falling into him. He quickly caught her.

Which meant she was now leaning against him. Leaning against the cute Irish boy. And he- _No, Daphne. Turn your brain back on. You're still using it, _Daphne thought distantly. It took her too long, though, because she forgot to object until she was sitting on the bench.

"Hey!" She said as he set her shoes in front of her.

"Your reaction time was even longer."

"Shut up." She was tempted to run right back into the lake, just to prove a point, but the mature part of her brain was reminding her that the whole argument was too stupid, and the logical part was reminding her just how cold that lake was at sunset. She shivered.

"_Ha!"_

"What?"

"You _are _cold!"

Daphne glared at Seamus. "I am not!" A small breeze blew by, cooling her already-numbing toes. "Maybe a bit."

He rolled his eyes, but then both of their attentions were drawn to the little tune coming from Daphne's purse. She sighed. Not again. She grabbed the phone out of the bag and flipped it open. "What?" She asked, clenching my teeth so they wouldn't chatter.

"What do you mean, what? It's nine thirty, Daph."

Daphne paused. Really? Had they wasted that much time? "Oh."

"Yes. Time to head back."

"Well, uh, I'll be home in a few minutes," Daphne said quickly, trying to think of an excuse. "I'm going to walk home."

"From where?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," Daphne lied, glancing behind her. "Somewhere across town."

"Daph, I can pick you up."

"No! It's fine! I don't want to go in that stupid car again," she insisted. "I'll walk home, it's fine. I'll be home soon."

"Do you even know the way?" came a suspicious voice. Dad knew all about my horrible sense of direction.

"Er. Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes. Definitely no ride."

A pause. "…It wouldn't be any trouble, Daph."

"Goodbye, Dad!" Daphne said, snapping the phone shut and smiling at Seamus.

Seamus raised an eyebrow. "You're not exactly across town, Daphne," he noted.

"Oh, I know, I'm just buying time."

"Why?"

"Because I _really _want to do this," she said, standing up and running full speed into the lake. As soon as it got above her knees, she raised her hands above her head and jumped into the water. She let out a small squeal underwater at the iciness of the water, but she grinned as soon as her head broke the surface. She was freezing and the sudden cold had made her lose her breath, but she beamed as she fell backwards again and floated in the lake.

She must not have been thinking about it right earlier. Sure she could swim in a white skirt. It flowed because it had three or four layers, so you couldn't really see through it when it was wet, and as long as she didn't try anything that involved kicking too far.

She looked back to see Seamus staring at her in disbelief. "Are you _insane?" _He called. Daphne giggled. Really, leaping into the water and going under were all she wanted to do- she was done now. She waded back, dripping ice-cold water from head to toe.

A breeze blew by, chilling Daphne as she sat on the bench. "Now I'm cold," she complained.

Seamus rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's as if you just leapt into an ice-cold lake."

Daphne curled up into a ball and pouted at Seamus. "I like the water!" she defended. "And it's colder out here. Maybe I'll just go back into the lake."

Seamus laughed. "I don't think so."

"Then warm me up!" Daphne dared.

"Maybe I will," Seamus replied, his tone not so much sarcastic, as Daphne would've expected, but softer. He took his jacket off and draped it around her shoulders, then sat next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders.

Daphne smiled and leaned against him. Alright- yes, she was cold, but maybe she was using the situation a_ little bit _to her advantage to get closer to Seamus. _But isn't that what Slytherins do? _she thought. _Go after what they want? _

She grinned to herself. Well then, on the topic of going after what she wanted… "Hey, Seamus," she whispered, sitting up so she could turn her head to face his.

"What?"

She leaned forward and again their lips met. She lifted her hands up and wrapped her arms around his neck as he returned the kiss. The kiss deepened as she leaned into him...

And just at that moment, her cell phone rang. Daphne managed to ignore it for a second, but finally she had to answer it. "What!" she snapped, not bothering to hide her irritation. Was this damn thing going to ruin _every _moment she had?

"Daph, just checking in to see how close you are." Her father's voice sounded a bit surprised by her reaction.

"Right." Daphne softened her tone. "Yeah, I'm...almost there."

"Alright, bye, Daph. Oh! You'll need to know the room number, won't you? Alright, we're on the third floor, room 302. The first one on the left when you come off the ele-" Here there was a short pause as he had to confirm the Muggle term. "The elevator."

"Okay. See you in a few," Daphne said halfheartedly, closing the phone. She turned to Seamus. "I really do need to go now," she admitted.

Seamus nodded understandingly. "It's been a while since he first called. Need me to walk you home again?"

_Not really, I know the way now. But... you know, maybe I might mess up. I might take a wrong turn somewhere! Better safe than sorry, right? I suppose I'll just have to have him walk me home! _Daphne reasoned mentally. "Sure." The two stood and began the walk to the hotel.

"So," Seamus began, attempting small talk after the awkward interruption. "What's your favorite movie?"

Daphne faltered. What was a Muggle movie? She knew what they were, but she couldn't for the life of her think of any. She didn't really _care. _"Oh, I don't really watch movies all that often."

Seamus nodded. "Theaters in London too expensive?"

Daphne smiled to herself as she nodded. "Yeah, I save my money for more important things, usually."

"Like what?"

"Like clothes."

Seamus started laughing, and Daphne shot him a fake-scowl. "Hey! Clothes are _important!_" she declared indignantly.

"Are they all green?" he asked, still grinning.

Daphne glanced at him. "Well, yeah, mostly, why?"

"Because all of the outfits I've seen you wear today have been green or something that goes with green."

"Well, it's my favorite color! Leave me alone!"

"What, and make you walk back alone? Never! Chivalry and tradition aren't dead in Ireland, lass."

_Gah! He's doing it again! _Daphne thought. She paused internally. Doing what again? _He's...being all Irish again!_ She let out a laugh to hide the fact that she was absolutely having a (rather unintelligent) conversation with herself. "Lass?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. ((A/N: Both of them, because she can't raise only one! ))

Seamus nodded, smiling. "Yes, _lass_. What, does nobody speak like an Irishman in London?"

"No, see, they're in London," Daphne replied, "So they speak like Londoners." Every time she remembered to say she was from London, even when she wasn't the one to bring it up first, she felt a bit proud of herself. "I suppose an Irishman in London would speak like an Irishman." She laughed at the odd turn the conversation had taken.

Seamus laughed as well. "Well, we're here," he announced, stopping in front of the hotel.

Daphne shot the hotel a look, as if blaming its nearby location for the conversation being cut short. Though she realized she actually _had _needed Seamus to walk her back - it was dark, and she'd have walked right by the hotel without recognizing it. "Aw. Well, thanks for the escort," she said.

"Goodnight," he nodded, turning to leave.

He made it a few steps before Daphne called after him. "Wait!" He turned around, and she took the steps necessary to catch up to him again. She smiled. "I don't know about chivalry, but we haven't forgotten tradition in London. And _especially _after helping me find my way back home," she said slyly, wrapping her arms around his neck again, "You're not leaving without your goodnight kiss."

Seamus grinned. "Gotta love tradition," he declared as he leaned forward to meet his lips with Daphne's. He placed one hand at the small of her back, pulling her towards him, and the other behind her head. Daphne parted her lips slightly, then stopped suddenly, standing back. Seamus blinked. "What?"

Daphne pulled out her cell phone and hit the power button on the side, turning the small thing off and then tucking it back where it belonged. She stepped forward again. "Alright, resume," she whispered as she leaned against him again.

---------------

**A/N: **To clarify, I have some serious problems writing kiss scenes. My brain goes, "Well, it's been fun, I have to...uh...do something over there." So expect fades to black and irritating interruptions. Ahaha, this will probably drive Daphne crazy (and probably readers too ;;) and I'll have to overcome it at some point during this fic, so don't be surprised if any more romance is interrupted. Yet I promise that you WILL get some smooching. At some point. Seriously. Just know that at the end of THIS chapter its just an innocent kiss. ...you know, innocent in that there is no groping or anything. I can't promise you any innocence tonguewise, it IS Daphne ;;

So. REVIEW! Make a poor author happy, leave a comment. I'm not going to hold my fic hostage - I mean, I'm writing this largely for me, so while it WILL probably inspire me to write faster, or something. I've actually already done a little bit of work on Chapter 2, and unlike in most fanfics I've written, I actually HAVE AN IDEA OF WHERE THIS IS GOING! Gasp!

A final note? Let me know if Daph gets too Mary-Sue. I try to keep it under control but it's hard! TT


	2. Moving On

**Moving On**

**A/N: **I realized just as I was going to post this chapter that I had accidentally included the working title in the last one. So I've decided that was actually the chapter name! Ha! Nobody will ever know! ...well, now you all will, since I told you. Damn! Aaaanyway, here is the long-anticipated (I hope) chapter two!

Weird things will happen in this chapter, and it will seem sometimes like what happened in the first chapter has been completely forgotten. But rest assured, it has not. You just have to wait for the third chapter!

But first some quick review replies, because I love those!

_Milkshake gone bad- _ thank you it's going to get dramatic!

_Sara- _Er. Noooo I meant the ... other Pacific Ocean! ((yes, you're right, I live right near the Pacific so I accidentally wrote the wrong name. Nice catch ;;))

_BunnyT- _"Didn't see anything that was really horrible that I haven't already mentioned"? What was really horrible! YOU'RE really horrible! Some friend you are! ...just kidding. Of course you're my friend. You're a Seamus fan! (Right? RIGHT?)

_Lilybet Edyvean- _Hooray for people promising to review! I'll hold you to that! (Actually, I won't, since I've taken so long to update.)

_doublelily- _You know you're writing HP fanfic when one third of your reviewers have Lily in their names. Anyway, thank you! You people and your niceness it makes me keep writing! Every time I read a review, I feel inspired and I go write for a while. So keep 'em coming, everyone!

_Jenni_ - Yes, there will be a next chapter! This is it! xD and there will be another next chapter, because if I left it at this it would kind of be a crappy fanfic. :P

---------------

The week had flown by.

Every day she had spent with Seamus, intermitten with company events. Sometimes they would go out to eat. Sometimes they just sat on that bench in the park and spoke. Sometimes they sat on the bench and did something else with their mouths. Daphne had discovered two fascinations in the Muggle world: movies and McDonalds. As such, a good amount of their time was spent at one of those two places.

But all good things have to come to an end, and too soon Daphne was back in that damned car driving off again. "So Daph, that wasn't as bad as you thought, was it?" her father asked as he drove.

"Are you joking? It was horrible!" complained Daphne.

Alright. So she'd been sorry to go. Not because she'd miss Ireland, and definitely not because she'd miss the company events, but because she'd been having a blast with her summer romance.

Generally she returned from vacation after some sort of fling or whatever, hoping that Durmstrang hottie would transfer to Hogwarts and maybe rekindle some flames from last holiday. Yet with Seamus? He was a Muggle. He would never end up in Slytherin. _So, _she supposed, _I guess this one has to stay in Ireland._

Which was disappointing. She'd really liked Seamus. Which, of course, was why she'd spent the entire week meeting him at McDonald's.

At home, though, the quick passage of time didn't miss a beat. She got home and hardly had any time to pack for Hogwarts, and next thing she knew she was hugging her mother a fond adieu at King's Cross Station.

"Mum, it'll only be a two or three months," Daphne said, repeating the same consolations she'd given every year.

"Write every week," Eileen insisted to her daughter.

"I will, I will." Total lie. "Bye, Mum."

"Goodbye!"

Daphne hurried towards the train, but she was stopped by a shout.

"Daph! Hey, Daph, wait!"

Daphne stopped and turned towards the call. An excited girl of the same age ran up - her closest friend, Seiko Shimokawa.

"Hey!" grinned Daphne. There was no time for conversation. "C'mon, we need to hurry if we want to find an empty compartment. I don't want to sit by any Gryffindors."

Seiko laughed and nodded, and the two pulled their bags onto the train, finding a clear compartment.

"So," Seiko declared, beginning conversation as the door closed. "Summer discussion. Any good trips?"

Daphne shook her head. "Ireland. Muggle area. Business thing."

A sigh of empathy escaped Seiko's lips, but she immediately after brightened up to talk about her own trip to Japan to visit her family. Despite the large presence of Wizarding towns in Japan, Seiko actually preferred the Muggle city of Tokyo. It wasn't because it was a Muggle city, Seiko had always explained, it was because it was a _city _city. She was always the kind who needed to be surrounded by crowds of people.

"So in Harajuku we see this girl wearing a-" three minutes into her story, Seiko froze, eying Daphne suspiciously.

Daphne blinked. "What?"

"YOU met a guy!" gasped Seiko, grinning widely. "Don't you deny it, what was his name?"

Surprised by this sudden discovery, Daphne stared. "How did you know!"

"Aha! I was right! Daphne, I'm your best friend, I can tell these things about you." She shook her head.

"Seiko, that's terrifying."

"What's his name?"

"Seamus."

Seiko nodded approvingly, biting her lower lip thoughtfully. "Hey, he was a Muggle, then, wasn't he?" she realized, glancing at Daphne.

Er... "Yyyyyyyeah." She grinned guiltily. "But that's not a big problem, is it?"

"Oh! No, no, of course not!" Seiko replied, too agreeable, too quickly. They both knew that the only reason it wasn't a problem was because nothing would come of it - it was okay because it was over. "I mean, not if it was just a summer fling."

"Definitely," assured Daphne.

There was an awkward silence after that, until finally Seiko spoke up again, her tone bright.

"But say he _wasn't_ a muggle, and he went to Hogwarts. What house would he be in?"

"What?"

"Well what if he was a pureblood wizard and he went to Hogwarts? What house would the hat put him into?"

"Oh. Oh, well, Slytherin, of course," Daphne insisted with a light laugh. "You question my judgement?"

In a moment of internal honesty, she had to admit- she wasn't so sure. There was something about him that, if she thought about it, she wasn't sure. That was all she thouhgt about it, though. That was all she let herself think about that. _Besides, _she told herself, _even if he wouldn't be in Slytherin, it doesn't matter. It's not like he really does go to Hogwarts. _

Both girls started at a sudden knock on their door. "Yeah?" they said simultaneously.

The door was pulled open, revealing Pansy Parkinson standing there, her long black hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

She glanced around the compartment, as if looking for someone. "Is it only you two in here?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Daphne replied.

"What, you two haven't any other friends?" Pansy asked, a bit surprised but with a sort of superior air.

"Of course we have!" Seiko said quickly and sounding a bit irritated. "But we prefer to have the compartments to ourselves. As tiny as they are- I'd have thought _you'd _have understood, Parkinson. Some of us just aren't used to living in small spaces."

Seiko was always good at that whole superior-Slytherin thing. She could always turn some snappy remark against the other person. Daphne knew she was holding back, and with good reason- Pansy Parkinson was one of Hogwarts' most popular girls.

Pansy gave a sort of scoff and blew the comment off. "Draco wanted me to ask you to join us."

Slytherin instincts finally kicking in, Daphne gave Seiko a sort of "do we care?" look. "Yeah, alright," she agreed loftily.

"Suivre moi," Pansy said simply, turning. Pansy was known for her frequent use of French. In fact, quite a few Slytherins had a habit of making various comments in foreign languages - it was a sort of trend, likely started by Pansy herself. Seiko and Daphne stood and followed after her. Daphne recalled some sort of Muggle-fish-thing saying the same sentence in a movie she and Seamus had seen over the summer, and found herself suppressing giggles.

After gliding through the hall, occasionally snapping at a first-year in her way, Pansy slid open a door and disappeared into the small room. Turning into it, Seiko and Daphne found room to sit - surprising, as the small area was also occupied by Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, and two younger girls that Daphne didn't know. One was from the year before them. As Daphne lowered herself onto the seat, she recognized the other - two years younger - as Zabini's younger sister.

"Enchanted," Seiko noted, looking around at the room that had room to hold about twice as many people as it should have. She gave Malfoy a sarcastic look as she added, "It's good to see you're so _concerned_ that nobody be left out."

Malfoy ignored the remark and turned to Daphne. "You know the names of everyone here?"

Daphne glanced at the two younger girls. "No, not quite," she replied.

As Malfoy nodded, Seiko raised an eyebrow at her friend. At the same time - though in rather different tones - both Malfoy and Seiko asked, "Who don't you know?"

Daphne shot Seiko a look before nodding her head towards Blaise's sister and the stranger.

"Danae Zabini," Blaise's sister said, smiling pleasantly. Daphne couldn't help but notice that she seemed much more friendly than Blaise did.

The other girl, a striking redhead, introduced herself as Jillian Anders. Conversation proceeded, and Daphne learned that despite being very attractive, the girl had very little going on in the brains department. She wasn't bubbly or ditzy, just not very bright. _So what is she doing here? _Daphne wondered. _I'm not saying these people are geniuses, but they don't seem the type to make a friend...or ally, or whatever...just because she's hot. Date her, maybe...actually, that's probably it._ she glanced up. _Why was I looking down, anyway? _she wondered abstractly before she caught sight of Jillian leaning her head on Blaise's shoulder. _Damn, I am good at this. _

"So, Greengrass," Malfoy stated - it really was more of a statement than the beginning of a sentence - as he turned to face her. "What do your parents do?"

Daphne raised her eyebrows at the question, not having expected it. "Er, well, they run a business," Daphne began, realizing that now would be a _great _time to remember what her parents did. _Agh. Well lets see, Dad spends time making loud noises in the basement because they work with..._ "Security," she added before she realized it. "Y'know, home security."

"They run the business?" Pansy repeated. "By which you mean they're in charge?"

"Well, if they're not, then calling it Greengrass Protection was a really bad idea."

Jillian blinked, then noticed the smile on Danae's face and started giggling. Daphne supposed it had taken her a moment to realize it was a joke. At the same time, Blaise nodded slowly with a look of realization on his face. "The ones with the Muggle branch?" he asked, a somewhat accusing tone tinging his voice as he tilted his head towards her. The others all turned to look at her.

_And this is where it'd be nice to remember their reasoning, _Daphne thought with an internal sigh. "Yeah, sort of," she said breezily, brushing it off.

"They work with Muggles?" Jillian repeated, confused. Out of the corner of her eye, Daphne thought she saw Pansy glance at Malfoy as if looking for his reaction.

Daphne gave Jillian a shocked look, exaggerated from her actual feeling of "_Well, kind of." _ "Of course they don't!" she replied huffily. "They've got _hired_ people who deal with Muggles. It's an entirely separate sector of their business. Just there for the added income - or something." Time for a moment of truth. "I really don't trouble myself with it, and you don't need the details anyway. But..._really! _Of course they don't work with Muggles, I know _that _much!"

Seiko laughed. "You go off on all sorts of business trips with them, Daph, you ought to know more about their work."

"I've got more important things to worry about," Daphne replied, smiling.

Pansy raised an eyebrow. Could _everyone _do that except for Daphne? "Like what?"

"Like not boring myself half to death with the boring details of my parents' work. Really, they have some of the dullest conversations I have ever heard. 'My, dear, that number certainly has stayed the same for months.' 'Why yes, it has, isn't that just perfectly uneventful?'" She shook her head. "You lot are lucky I can't remember more about it, I'm probably saving your lives. Death by monotony, I hear it's a horrible thing." At this point, Daphne made a conscious effort to stop talking before she crossed into the realm of the ne'er-shut-up.

The entire room laughed, some (such as Danae) more than others (such as her brother). Pansy slowly swept her gaze back to them, and Daphne braced herself.

"So, do the two of you have boyfriends?"

"Oh, I do," Seiko contributed offhandedly. Pansy looked expectantly at Daphne.

Daphne opened her mouth and began to search for a nice way to say no. "Er, not since last May," she admitted.

There was a bit more questioning for the next twenty minutes or so, though the questions became more and more interspersed with actual casual conversation. Daphne was surprised at how readily these people seemed to be accepting Seiko and herself. It wasn't that they were unpopular - _I don't think any Slytherin is, _Daphne thought to herself in a moment of house pride - it was just that it usually took a good amount of familial power or riches to get into this inner circle. Something seemed to be up, and Daphne was curious.

Turning to Seiko, she raised her eyebrows questioningly. She supposed that to any normal acquaintance such an action would have said, "Something questionable has happened." But Daphne and Seiko had always had some amazing communication skills, the sort that can only grow between two friends who spend way, way too much time together. In this case, it meant, "This is going surprisingly well. What do you think?"

Seiko nodded faintly, her expression's reply being something along the lines of, "You're right, it is going well, so lets not screw it up by making odd faces at each other." Daphne laughed at her own internal interpretation and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Malfoy.

"Greengrass, can I talk to you for a moment in private?"

Daphne blinked in surprise. "Er, yeah," she replied. Malfoy stood and opened the door, and both exited. Daphne tried not to smile imagining the awkward conversation that would likely follow after that strange interruption. Malfoy led her into the compartment that she and Seiko had been sitting in previously.

"I assume you can guess why I've brought you here," Malfoy said simply.

Daphne searched her mind, finding a surprisingly small amount in there - at least, a small amount relevant to this situation. "Well, yes, I _can _guess why...but my guesses would be pretty random, because I have no idea why." _Stop talking, Daphne, stop talking._

An eyebrow was raised. (_Bloody hell, I am the only one! _Daphne complained mentally.) "We just invited you in to talk to you about your family, as well as asking you if you are dating anyone. I am now taking you into a seperate room away from both your friend, my friends, and my _ex-girlfriend _to ask you something."

"_Um. _Well...now I think I can guess a little bit better," Daphne said, accidentally letting herself say more things without checking in with her brain first. Was he actually implying what he sounded like he was implying? What if he wasn't? What kind of idiot would Daphne seem like _then?_ "...maybe," she added.

Malfoy gave a sort of smirk-smile. Suddenly he leaned forward, putting his arm against the wall behind him and pinning Daphne against the same wall. His face was only a few inches from hers now.

"Guessing is definitely getting closer, but..." Daphne whispered. She was doing what she always did when she was flustered - she was talking too much. What was happening was entirely unexpected, and Daphne's mouth was now moving of its own accord. _Daphne. Stop. Talking._ "I think I might need one more hi-"

Daphne was about to mentally yell at herself for getting too surprised to remember when silence was appropriate, when Malfoy offered her his own way of getting her mouth to stop talking. Before she realized what was happening, she felt his lips against hers. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and as he pulled away, she focused all her energy on not being an idiot. _Don't talk yet. Don't talk yet. Do not talk yet. _

After a moment of catching her breath, she stood up straight. He did the same, and she regained her composure for a moment. "Well," she said in a brusque, almost businesslike tone, her witty inner Slytherin finally taking control of her voice, "I guessed right."

"And the answer is..?" Malfoy asked. Despite what he was asking, his tone still remained as collected (and slightly sarcastic) as it had been the entire time. Daphne found herself a bit jealous, especially as she stared at him blankly. "I thought you said you guessed right about what I was bringing you here to ask," he mocked, giving her a look that reminded Daphne why every Slytherin in her year (and a great deal of the others) considered him the most attractive boy in the house.

"Right. Yes. Er...yes," she stammered, and deciding he for some reason needed it repeated again, she said in a more definitive tone, "Yes."

Malfoy smiled. "Well, then, that went well, didn't it?"

"Yyyyyes." Daphne hesitated at repeating herself again, but this seemed to amuse Malfoy rather than annoy him. She let out a deep breath. "So. What now?"

"Now we go sit down."

"I assume we're going to tell them?"

"...why wouldn't we?"

Daphne shrugged. "I don't know, it seems sort of awkward. 'Oh, excuse us a moment. ...hello, we're an item now. You missed a bit.'"

Malfoy flashed a devious smile. "Something like that. Come on."

Daphne shrugged again and followed Malfoy as they returned to the company of the others. As the door shut behind them after their return, Daphne found herself for a second time pressed up against the wall, her mouth interlocked with Malfoy's. Daphne actually found herself having time to react this time around, returning the kiss, and a bit more time passed before the two pulled away and sat down. Daphne's expression, she supposed, seemed a bit overwhelmed, but Draco seemed to be taking this all perfectly well.

"I think I've figured out what that was about," Pansy commented, taking on her usual air.

"You win, Danae," Jillian declared in her usual bubbly tone. "I'd say you were right." Danae laughed.

_"Did you really..?" _Seiko whispered in Daphne's ear. Daphne nodded, and Seiko added quietly, _"Well, geez!_"

As conversation was beginning again, Pansy gave Daphne a smile. Daphne recognized this sort of smile - she didn't know Pansy well, but she would recognize this expression on any Slytherin. It was the sort of fake friendly smile that gave a clear undertone, and Daphne had a feeling she was supposed to catch the meaning-

_You have no idea what you're getting into._

---------------

**A/N: **Gah! Was that bad? It was bad, wasn't it? TT and it took a long time...am I going too fast with the plot? Tell me things, people! I'll try to update more often, I promise I will! Review, everyone, because your reviews inspire me :D every time I read a review I go, "oh man, there's another person who wants me to write more!" and then I go write for a good amount of time. For instance, I read Jenni's review and went, "omg they're waiting TT" and now here I am at 11:15 at night having to wake up at 6:00 tomorrow morning and I'm POSTING THIS FANFIC! ...that's mainly because I'm insane though. What I mean, though, is that the more reviews I get, the faster this will come out! isn't that COOL?

And like I said, Daph hasn't forgotten Seamus. She is just distracted ; and I don't really know where I'm going with this whole thing, but as I write I get ideas. Hopefully eventually I'll get an idea for how to actually end this thing. Otherwise it will be the fic that never ends OO!

mutters "didn't see anything really horrible"... I hate you, BunnyT... ((as a note, she is a real-life best friend so it's okay for me to hate her sometimes :) ))


	3. Ignorance is Bliss

**Ignorance is Bliss**

**A/N: **Oh my god, you guys give the nicest reviews! I feel so loved! So I will do my best to get this chapter done way, way faster than the last one! Especially since I have more of an idea as to what I'm doing this time...the last one, I had a very general idea of where I was going. This time, I have more plans for what I'm doing.

This is also the chapter where you'll notice that I am a little bit going off of canon. The only real difference so far is that I am still using Dumbledore. That will also probably be the only change I'll make.

_Monkey- _Oh, good, I'm glad you liked it! I was afraid people would get mad about it.

_Lilybet Edyvean- _I agree, Seamus is totally cooler. :D And no, I need the pressure, it gets me to write ; and all these nice things that these people are saying in these reviews!

_Meshpets- ­_I'm glad you liked it That's one of the interesting things about writing Daph into a fic, is that when I first mentioned her to some of my friends they were like, "Oh! Daphne Greengrass! You're writing a fic about her?" And yeah, Seamus is interesting because from what you know about his canon personality, there are a few different ways that people go with it. (Yet at the same time that's kind of hard because I'll write him one way, then go read a fic where he's totally different and have to make sure I'm not writing him differently...)

_FanFicFanatick- _Oh wow! You're all happy and stuff! still isn't used to people caring about her fics

_Tweedes- _Don't worry, I'll keep writing! I'll probably be horribly slow about it, but I WILL finish this fic, I really will!

_BunnyT_- Yes, that is because I had a lot that I wanted to happen in the first one...this chapter will be short, too. I have a list of what I want to happen in each chapter, and this chapter doesn't have too much going on. Chapter eight will be busy busy!

_doublelily- _Eek! I hope I don't disappoint you! Heehee, yes, before I work on this I'm not allowed to read any Seamus fics for fear of accidentally changing his personality ;;

---------------

"You're sure that was what she meant?" Seiko asked quietly as they all took their seats at the Great Hall.

Daphne nodded. "Sei, I'm a Slytherin, you think I can't recognize a vengeful glare? I am the master of the vengeful glare. I can tell you _all thirty-one varieties _of vengeful glares."

Seiko laughed. "I suppose. Still. Parkinson's out to get you, huh?"

"Nooo," Daphne insisted, shaking her head. "I mean, I didn't do anything to her, did I?"

"Aren't you dating her ex?"

"Well. Yes...but I, I didn't do anything! I mean, he asked me, right?" Daphne asked, starting to feel a bit nervous.

"I don't know, Daph, I mean, she's the one who was glaring, not me."

Sighing, Daphne bit her lip. "I don't like this conversation," she said decisively after a second of thinking. "What about the other side of what just happened? My side?" added Daphne brightly.

"Oh! Yeah!" Seiko looked as if she'd just remembered. "So, how'd it happen? I mean how'd he ask?"

Daphne grinned. "He didn't ask, specifically. He kind of hinted. Pretty blatantly."

"He didn't ask? What do you mean?"

"Well..." Daphne thought for a moment about how to phrase it. "He did something _else _with his mouth."

Seiko raised her eyebrows. "Oooh. So I assume you gave your answer by following his lead."

Daphne laughed. "Something like that."

The conversation was interrupted by a long speech from Dumbledore, welcoming them all to another year at Hogwarts. There was some sorting done by the hat and then the feast resumed, as did conversation between Daphne and Seiko as the two took some food for themselves.

"You know who I'd like to go out with?" Seiko asked.

"Your boyfriend, I hope?"

A look of guilt crossed Seiko's face for a moment. "Well, not exactly...I sort of plan to break things off with him. But! Do you know who I'd like to date _afterwards_?"

Used to Seiko's boyfriend A.D.D, Daphne replied, "I will in a moment when you tell me."

Seiko rolled her eyes at the response that Daphne had used more than once when asked questions like that. "Blaise Zabini."

Daphne paused, fork halfway to her mouth. "Come again?"

"You heard me. Zabini."

"Sei, he's kind of got a girlfriend."

"So? I've got a boyfriend. Things change!"

"You may recall spending the majority of the train ride with her. You may also recall a lot of snogging."

Seiko sighed, staring into space wistfully. "I know. All the good ones are taken or gay," she recited the sentence she and Daphne had said so many times. Her gaze slid over to her friend. "Hey, you got Malfoy, though. The rule doesn't apply to you anymore. You're one of the girls who took the taken ones!"

Daphne stared at Seiko. "...what?"

"Taken or gay, like I said. Someone's gotta date the 'taken' ones! You're one of those girls now!"

"So it's a very confusing way of saying that I'm dating a cute, straight guy."

Seiko seemed to have to think about it for a moment. "...yes, the term 'dating' being used loosely given that you two haven't actually gone on a _date _yet."

"You know what I mean," replied Daphne. Seiko nodded. The term 'dating' was often used in Hogwarts (or at least, among Slytherins, Daphne didn't listen enough to the others to know if it was the same way) to signify a couple rather than two people frequently going on dates. It wasn't so much that if you went on dates you were dating as it was that if you were dating, you went on dates. _I'm glad I'm the only one who has to understand what goes on inside my head._

At this point, the pause in the conversation finally gave the two girls an opportunity to begin eating their food. The next few minutes was largely spent in silence between them, conversation being replaced by dinner. As the meal drew to a close, they began talking again.

"It sucks that summer's over," Seiko declared, again looking into the distance as she generally did while complaining.

"Yeah, but at the same time it's nice to be back with friends."

Seiko nodded in agreement and they both stood to head towards the Slytherin common room. Daphne looked out into the crowd. There were a lot of people at this school, she realized, looking at the flood of faces in the Great Hall as she followed Seiko. It was odd how some of them who didn't seem to be that far in age could still seem so unfamiliar, especially, for some reason, the Hufflepuffs. She was bad with names - actually, she was really bad about remembering people in general. Unless she actually _cared _to remember the person. She was that way with everything - she'd only remember it if she actually bothered to remember it. If she tried, she could remember anything. If not, her mind was a seive. In fact, it wasn't until third year that she could accurately identify every professor. The people she didn't care about, she didn't notice. _Which is why I can hardly tell someone the name of a single Gryffindor, _she thought to herself, smirking and turning her condescending gaze to the rival house's table. _I mean, there's that Potter, and his friends...Weasley and something-or-other. Granger. But the others, I don't know a single-_

Daphne stopped dead, staring in a mixture of shock and horror at the red and gold table.

Seiko took another step before noticing her friend had stopped, and turned back. "What is it?" she asked. Daphne didn't reply, only stared at the cause of her reaction. "Daph! Hey!" Seiko waved a hand in front of Daphne's face. "Anybody home?"

Daphne shook her head at what she thought she'd seen. _That's impossible, _she assured herself, turning to follow Seiko, who sighed disapprovingly and walked with the rest of the Slytherins towards their dormitories. Moving among the Gryffindors, she had seen a certain sandy-haired boy.

_Seamus..._

_Shit._

_It really is impossible though. Right? I mean, first off, there's no way a Slytherin like me would have anything to do with a Gryffindor. Even if I didn't realize it. _She sighed, knowing that was probably not true. _And...well...it can't have been him! It's impossible! I'd have known in Ireland, wouldn't I? _She had a feeling that also wasn't the case - after all, hadn't she only just been thinking about her horribly selective memory. _I must be imagining things. I was pretty far away. _Except...she knew that wasn't true, either. It wasn't a corner-of-the-eye sort of glance. She had seen him standing there, talking, laughing. It was definitely him.

And he was a Gryffindor.

_Shit!_

The entrance opened up and the students poured into the common room. Daphne, still trying to sort out the thoughts flying through her head, sunk into a couch, and watched Seiko take a spot beside her, concerned.

"Okay, Daphne, getting worried here."

"It could have been someone who looked like him, or something," Daphne insisted to herself, desperate. She let out yet another sigh and rested her head in her hands. "It wasn't, though. It was him."

"...who?" Seiko asked. Something seemed to click inside of her head. "...Seamus?"

Daphne nodded.

"So this summer-fling Seamus...was it Seamus _Finnigan?_"

Biting her lip, Daphne gave Seiko a guilty look and shrugged. She had never once learned his last name.

Seiko shook her head. "I told you, Daph, I told you your crappy memory would get you in trouble some day! So how big of a problem is this going to be?"

The question seemed to break Daphne out of her frantic state. "What?"

"Is this, like, going to have serious repercussions, or is this just an inconvenience?"

"Well, I mean, this is my summer fling..." Daphne didn't plan to let herself think about whether or not there were any feelings left over.

"You have a boyfriend now."

Daphne nodded. "You're right...so..." she sat up straighter, her calm returning. "So it shouldn't be a big problem, Sei. Nothing! It's nothing," she insisted, partially building up her own confidence.

Seiko raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yeah, it's all fine," she consoled herself. Searching for a subject change she said, "So, Zabini!"

Seiko grinned. "Yeah! Do you think I have a chance?" she asked, her tone quieting as she leaned in.

_In retrospect, this may not have been one of the smarter subject changes,_ Daphne realized. "Seiko, he _is _dating someone."

"Oh, but she's _so _annoying and stupid," Seiko complained. "I mean, do _you _think I would make a better girlfriend?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes," she replied sarcastically, "In fact, I want nothing more than to dump Malfoy and _marry _you."

Seiko stuck out her tongue. "Not for you, you git."

"Sure you would, Sei," Daphne assured her friend.

Seiko leaned back on the couch, her face clearly showing that she was plotting something. "I guess if I flirt with him enough, then when things end with what's-her-face..." Seiko had all the memory skills that Daphne lacked, and Daphne knew full well that it was just a bit of cattiness that caused Seiko to pretend to forget Jillian's name. "Then he'll know that I'm single and interested. And who can resist me?"

Daphne responded with another eye roll. She knew that Seiko wasn't far from the truth. Witty, flirty, and good-looking, Seiko was only single when she wanted to be. It annoyed Daphne at first, but she'd long since gotten used to it and now rarely even noticed Seiko's ever-changing boyfriends.

"Unless, you know, things _don't _end with Blaise and Jillian," Daphne reminded Seiko.

Seiko returned Daphne's eye roll and made a 'psht' sound as if to say, _Like that would happen. _"Now, tell me if I'm prying, Daph," Seiko said, leaning in, "But just how much happened between you and Seamus over the summer?"

"In Ireland?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know full well you absolutely despise anything having to do with your parents' work. Bores you to death, Daph, you've said it a thousand times. So you must have spent the whole week with him, if only to avoid monotony, am I right?"

"Yeah, more or less. We sort of dated, sort of hung out..."

"Sort of kissed?"

Daphne grinned. "Definitely kissed. He pretty much just showed me around the town - fun restaurants, clubs, nice places to go. I'll tell you one thing, Muggles have some _strange _pasttimes."

"Like what?"

"You know moving pictures we've got, right? Well they pretty much take those, make them really, really big, put them on a wall and then everybody goes to watch them. Except they aren't just spontaneous, they don't have minds of their own like ours - the people had actually gone and acted it out and they recorded it and then the things on the walls replay them. Like stories."

Seiko blinked. "...and that's _fun? _Staring at a moving picture?"

Daphne laughed. "Its not that bad. The stories can be interesting and the guys in them can be cute."

Seiko tsk'ed. "Checking out other guys while on a date? I'm shocked, Daphne!"

"I know," Daphne agreed, "I'm becoming _you._ Except I'm not planning dates with someone else while I'm out with my boyfriend."

"That only happened once! And we've gotten off-topic again. How far did it get, you know? How lucky did Mr. Finnigan get?"

Daphne blushed. "_Now _you're prying."

"Aw, but I want to know! Come on, Daph, at least answer me this- how much clothing did you have on at the...clothing-less-est part?"

Ignoring Seiko's nonexistent word, Daphne jumped up. "_Geez, _Sei! All clothing! No clothing was removed! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

Seiko laughed. "I was just wondering! You seemed flustered when I asked, I thought maybe more than I'd originally guessed had happened," she teased. "Anyway, it sounds like you guys hit it off great. It's too bad that he's a Gryffindor, huh?"

"Yeah. He doesn't _act _all that Gryffindory, you know. I really would have put him in Slytherin, myself. Maybe he would have been, but he hasn't got pure blood, you know?" Seiko smiled and rolled her eyes. Daphne glared at her and sat back down. "What!"

"You don't need to defend yourself, Daph."

"I wasn't _defending _myself. I'm expressing an _opinion_. You know as well as I do that I wouldn't have kissed someone who acted the epitome of the Gryffindor."

"No, you really wouldn't. You'd be too creeped out. As would I. It's our instinct."

Daphne smiled. There was a lull in the conversation, and Seiko yawned.

"Oh, wow," she said, "I just realized how exhausted I am. Didn't sleep at all last night. Shall we go off to bed?"

Daphne nodded, also having found herself more tired than she'd thought. "Sounds like a plan." The two wandered off to their dormitory and changed into pajamas, settling into their beds. While Daphne heard Seiko's breathing shallow out quickly, she had more trouble falling asleep.

_Stupid Seiko,_ she chided internally, _thinking that Seamus and I had... of course not, we only knew each other for a week. Actually, I guess we got a lot done for just a week...it's too bad it was only that long. It would have been nice to have spent some more time with-_

"_No,_" Daphne hissed under her breath. He was a Gryffindor. Not going to happen. She didn't want it to anyway, right? She was a Slytherin. Of course not. She cut off her thoughts right then and there, refusing to risk some sort of epiphany of feelings. She was Draco Malfoy's girlfriend, thank you very much, and she was happy that way.

Probably.

---------------

**A/N: **Oh no! The short chapter of _doom_! I apologize. "This time you'll get the truth."

I'm sorry, that was a quote from Final Fantasy: Advent Children. I'm obsessed with that movie! If any of you haven't seen it, go out and watch it right now! I've seen it ten times:D

I can't guarantee that I'll get future chapters out any faster. I know that the more reviews I get, the more often I'll be inspired to write! nudge nudge, wink wink Seriously, even ONE review. If I see a new review I go, "OMG, TIME TO WRITE!" By clicking that little button you could bring the next chapter out days, even weeks earlier! YOU HAVE THE POWER!

And _I _ have the chapter overview chart, meaning I know what's going to happen in the next chapter, so I'll be able to write it! Hooray!

Also, it's summer now, meaning I have no school or schoolwork to distract me. I've made a promise to spend 2 hours a day (at least) doing something constructive, and writing counts as constructive. So that means that when I really don't want to sew or work out or something, then I'll probably work on this fic So, hooray! The next chapter will _probably _come out faster!

(And I'm getting better! It was _three _months between chapter 1 and 2, and it's only _two _months between 2 and 3!)


	4. Coincidences

**Coincidences**

**A/N: **La la la reviews make me dance and frolic with happiness! I'm going to reply to some of the reviews that got sent after I posted the chapter afterwards...there are some on chapter one that I never replied to.

_RenieandtheMoo- _Yeah, I know they don't but I couldn't find out what they called it... (and yes, I think the same thing of Seamus! Why can't he kiss _me?_)

_anne- _Thank you D

_doublelily- _Yes! One month! I can do that! nods Although if I do that, then the next one will have to come out in _zero _months! And the one after that...negative one months!

_Lilybet Edyvean- _I will update sooner! Really and truly, I will!

_BunnyT-_ Chapter eight is action-packed, I tell you! And yes (as I told you) that line was based off of you...I wrote the "guess who" thing and then thought of you and couldn't write anything else! Then when I went back to edit it, I had to make sure that the way I was editing it meant I could leave that line in.

---------------

"Nice to start off the year on a happy note," Seiko complained sarcastically, glaring at the assignment she had scrawled in the corner of her parchment. The two had just come from Transfiguration and were headed to their second class now.

"It's about to get even happier," Daphne said, reading her schedule.

Seiko looked up from her paper. "Real happy or sarcastic happy?"

"Sarcastic happy. We've got Herbology with Gryffindors."

Seiko cringed. "Eww. You going to be okay, Daph?"

"What?"

"With Seamus?"

"Oh..." Daphne laughed. "I hadn't even thought of that. I'll be fine - I mean, big deal, I have to sit in a room with him."

Seiko smiled, then a thought struck her. "Hey, Daph..."

"Yeah?"

"You didn't know he went to Hogwarts when you went out with him."

"We've been over this, Seiko," Daphne replied, giving her friend a suspicious look.

Seiko shook her head. "What I'm getting at is... does _he _know _you _go to Hogwarts?"

Daphne thought about it. She'd seen him clear across the hall, talking cheerfully to a friend. Realizing he made out with a Slytherin (more than once) wasn't the kind of thing a Gryffindor would blow off, she figured, so as carefree as he seemed..."No, I suppose he doesn't." _How convenient, _she thought. _I don't have to worry about losing my cool. _She pushed open the door and entered, Seiko close behind. A few kids looked up to see who had opened the door - among them was Seamus.

Daphne could pinpoint the exact second it registered in his mind who she was. His eyes got huge and his jaw dropped. Daphne smiled to herself and turned away to take a seat near the back of the classroom. Seiko sat next to her, and the two of them paused for a moment before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

"Did you see his _face?_" Seiko whispered.

Daphne nodded, grinning.

"Did you see when he realized that this meant you were in Slytherin, a moment after?" Daphne shook her head and Seiko began laughing all over again. "Oh my god, shock mixed with horror. You need to do this more often, Daph, it's hilarious!"

Professor Sprout stood at that moment, tapping her wand against the table nearby to silence the students. "Attention, everyone! It's good to see you all here for another year at Hogwarts. Now then, I feel there's something that I ought to tell you first off - this year myself and a few other professors have chosen to try and improve the relations between houses." There were groans among the students. As far as they were concerned they were just _fine _hating each other. "_Especially _between Gryffindor and Slytherin. As such, I will be assigning partners between houses."

Daphne could feel the blood drain from her face. She knew how her luck worked, and she knew _precisely _what was about to happen. "_Shit,_" she hissed under her breath. Seiko glanced at her warily.

"Shimokawa, Seiko," Sprout began, mispronouncing Seiko's last name, "and... Potter, Harry. The two of you, please sit here."

Seiko rolled her eyes and sneered, standing to move seats. Students stood, moved, and sat again for the next few minutes as Sprout called out more names.

"Greengrass, Daphne, and Finnigan, Seamus," she announced finally. Daphne mouthed the last half along with the professor. Of course. She and fate had never gotten along. Luckily, the table she was assigned was right next to Seiko's. She took the closer seat to her friend, who hurriedly shoved Potter out of the near chair to take it herself.

_"Trade you,"_ mouthed Seiko.

_"Please," _Daphne mouthed back, trying her hardest to make no form of contact with Seamus. Talking to him would be awkward, to say the least, and she had never learned the appropriate Slytherin course of action for "I just found out my ex is a Gryffindor."

"Please introduce yourself to your partner," the professor announced as she sorted out the last students, sounding very cheery and apparently unaffected by all the animosity in the room.

Daphne shot Seiko a pleading look before plastering a sarcastically fake grin on her face and whirling around to face a pained-looking Seamus. "_Hello,_" she said, overly cheerful. "My name's Daphne Greengrass. It's nice to _meet_ you."

Seamus glared before adopting a similarly happy tone. "Seamus Finnigan. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The two smiled fakely at each other before both turning away. Seiko had just begun a verbal assault on Potter, and Sprout rushed over to break it up. Scowling, Seiko turned to Daphne.

"I think it went very _well_," Daphne hissed through clenched teeth. Seiko smiled ruefully, and the two whispered a conversation over Professor Sprout's explanation of the curriculum until they were dismissed.

"Classes have been going for less than three hours," Daphne muttered as the two left, "And I can already guarantee you this year is going to be _bad._"

"It's the only class we've got with Gryffindors," Seiko replied. "Survive through an hour a day, and that's all you'll have to do."

Daphne nodded. "You're right, I suppose."

-----

The next class went by without incident, and Daphne was soon on her way to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Daphne!" someone called from behind her. Daphne stopped and looked around. She saw Malfoy hurrying to catch up with her.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Some girl just asked me on a date," Malfoy said, seeming amused.

"Silly females," Daphne declared.

Malfoy smiled. "It made me realize that we probably ought to find some way to explain to the school that we're dating."

Daphne stopped walking and tilted her head. "Like what?"

"Well, since you asked..." Draco turned to face her and leaned into her, putting his arm on the wall to support himself. As he leaned in, their lips met and their eyes closed. Daphne wrapped her arms around his neck and his free arm found its way around her waist. Damn, he could kiss. Daphne's lungs finally started complaining and she had to draw back for air. _Bloody lungs!_ Having taken a breath, she leaned back into the kiss.

"Bloody hell, get a room!" came an annoyed voice from behind Malfoy. Malfoy leaned back and turned to face the source of the comment. Standing and looking quite irritated was Seamus Finnigan, a piece of paper in his hand.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe it's any of your business," Malfoy sneered.

"It is if I'm trying to talk to the girl whose throat your tongue is jammed down," Seamus snapped. Daphne fought off a blush - successfully, she noted proudly. He held the paper out to Daphne. "You left this in Herbology. Sprout said to get it to you or _your _grade on it would be _my _grade."

Daphne took the paper and looked at it. It was some stupid review worksheet on what they'd learned the year prior. "She didn't hand out any worksheets."

"She bloody well did, but you were too distracted by that friend of yours to notice. It's due tomorrow," he added. Clearly he was pissed, and Daphne had the sneaking suspicion that it was having to talk to her, combined with having to interrupt the two.

"Will that be all?" Daphne asked airily.

"I should hope so," Seamus shot back.

"Good," she said, once more wrapping her arms around Malfoy's neck and standing on her tiptoes to resume the kiss. She heard Seamus inhale sharply, then scoff loudly and mutter as he stomped off. Breaking off, Daphne smiled. "Alright, well I'd better get going before Seiko suspects something happened," she laughed. "See you, Malfoy."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "You know, most people would consider dating to be first-name basis, Daphne."

Daphne laughed. "I guess you have a point. See you, _Draco._" She then hurried off to the Great Hall. If there was one thing she knew for sure about Seiko, it was that the girl hated waiting.

-----

"Tardy on the first day? I hope this won't become a habit, Miss Greengrass," Seiko declared as Daphne took her seat next to her, her voice a perfect imitation of a Professor's.

"No, Professor Shimmo-kawa," Daphne replied, purposely mispronouncing her friend's name.

Seiko made a face. "Fifty points from Dapherin for that one. Seriously though, what took you?"

"Oh, I got held up in the halls by Draco," Daphne replied happily. Her voice dropping in irritation, she added, "...and Seamus." She held up the worksheet. "Did you know we had this?"

"Yeah, Potter caught me just before Ancient Runes to hand it to me. Remind me again why I signed up for that class? An essay assigned already."

"You signed up because you absolutely love ancient cultures and anything to do with them, Seiko."

"Hmph. Not anymore. Two pages long, due in three days. So what happened with Malfoy and Seamus?"

Daphne smiled guiltily. "Well, Draco and I were...in the middle of something, when Seamus interrupted to give me the worksheet."

Seiko laughed. "Was he embarassed?"

"No, he didn't seem embarassed," Seiko replied, shaking her head. "He seemed upset."

"Upset?"

"Angry."

Seiko tilted her head. "At you, or at Malfoy?"

"At both of us, I'd say. Why all the questions?"

Seiko grinned. "I'd have to say Mr. Finnigan was jealous."

Daphne thought about it. "That _would _account for the stomping off once we started kissing again."

"Well, you didn't mention that part. He's definitely jealous."

"Sooo...the Gryffindor boy still likes me?" Daphne asked, smiling and leaning back.

"Well, not necessarily," Seiko replied.

Daphne scowled.

"I mean, he might also be upset that something that he had just a few weeks ago is no longer his, and is in fact someone else's. And that someone else happens to be someone he despises."

Daphne nodded thoughtfully.

Another idea seemed to hit Seiko. "_Oh! _Hey, Daph, on a more important note," she began.

"Hm?" Daphne glanced up.

"I have some really cute new hair clips I want to show you!"

"Way to have your priorities in order, Sei."

Seiko stuck out her tongue. "I also bought you some really cute earrings I saw in Japan," Seiko continued cheerfully.

"Ooh, this _is _more important!"

"I told you it was." Seiko brushed off Daphne's doubt. "Anyway, they're these silvery feather ones and I thought they'd look cute with your streaks, y'know?" she gestured to the silver streaks in Daphne's hair. "I was afraid you'd get rid of them and I'd have no way of knowing, and then I'd have these earrings for you that I'd bought for streaks you didn't have. Luckily, you still streak your hair!" She tilted her head curiously. "What did you do about them during your parents' business meetings? I assume your mom wouldn't go for it."

Daphne laughed and shook her head. "Oooh, definitely not. She couldn't have me looking like a...a _hooligan _while she was trying to conduct business." Daphne raised her voice into an annoying whine, mocking her mother. "I mean, who in Merlin's name would sign a business contract with a woman whose daughter looked ready to mug her? And Daphne, what did I tell you about wearing your skirts that short? Some boy's going to come along and get all the wrong ideas about you, young woman." She rolled her eyes. "She charmed them off whenever we were going somewhere. Then half the time she'd almost forget to take the spell off, whether or not _that _was unintentional."

Seiko smiled. "Oh, you think _you've _got it bad? You should hear my father. 'Is that your _stomach _I'm seeing, Seiko? I should certainly hope not! And what is wrong with your shorts? They are nearly invisible! The name does not have to be taken that literally! Go change at once, I insist! I will not have my daughter running around looking like some sort of...of _tsujigimi_!'"

"Tsujigimi?" inquired Daphne.

"Three guesses, Daphne," Seiko replied, raising an eyebrow.

Daphne laughed. "You never taught me that one."

Seiko shook her head. "I taught you _gaishou_, it's more or less the same thing. Now...this isn't the best dinnertime conversation, and I'm hungry. So let us speak of nicer things, hm?" She turned to her plate and said cheerfully, "_Itadakimasu!_"

-----

Daphne and Seiko made their way out of the Great Hall, Seiko teaching Daphne a few more rude words in Japanese.

Daphne felt a hand slip around her waist, and looked up to see Draco standing next to her. "Well, hello there," she greeted happily.

Draco leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "Hey," he replied. "The first Hogsmeade trip is in a week or two. I know a few nice places down there. Care to join me?"

"But of course," Daphne agreed. Out of the corner of her eye as she faced Draco, she saw Seamus walking behind them, next to the same friend he'd been talking to earlier. _Time for some fun,_ she thought to herself, remembering his annoyance earlier and Seiko's comments. "I can't wait," she added, stopping and going up on tiptoe to give Draco another, deeper kiss. She felt his arms wrap around her, and was then pulled away as Draco was run into by Seamus.

"I _said_, get a bloody room," he muttered angrily, stalking off.

Daphne fought off a grin.

This would be fun.

----------

A/N: _Nande kuso! _Is chapter four done already! Summer is an excellent influence on my writing!

Don't expect this kind of speed in the future though! Hm, maybe I shouldn't post this yet...wouldn't want you guys to get the wrong impression!

I'm just kidding. Obviously - I mean, you're reading this now, right?

Um, but I'm leaving tomorrow to go be an assistant counselor at a girl's camp for a week. Watching lots and lots of little girls. Oooh boy. So I won't get any writing done for the next week, but I'll try and write quickly after that.

Wanna know a secret?

Sometimes when I'm writing I check my reviews, and if I have new ones, I go write for even longer! But sometimes, there aren't any new reviews, and so I get distracted by something sparkly.

So review, because next chapter, something _big _happens! But not with Daphne...with someone _else! _(Oh no! Who could it be!)


	5. Guilty As Charged

**Guilty as Charged**

**A/N: **I'm really, really sorry about the delay! I went to camp, and then my computer broke! It was in repairs for AGES! So I hope you didn't think, "Oh, it's just that Kateko, she writes so slowly." Because that's not why, this time! It would have been on time, I swear!

It's really annoying when you want to have a character say something, but you think they've said it before...so you go back to check if they've said it..and it turns out not only did they say it, but then emphatically repeated it...

Lots of short little scenes in this chapter, because there are a lot of short little things I want to have happen without having to bore you with what happened around it. "Then they walked." "Then someone gave a speech."

_Lilybet Edyvean- _I hope you will be surprised! I don't want to get predictable...and yes, Daphne is an evil little creature, isn't she? And yes, Seamus is probably too nice to get revenge on her...someone _else _isn't though!

_FanFicFanatick- _Shhh! Just wait and see!

_RenieandtheMoo- _Yes, she's not very nice when her Slytherin side kicks in.

_BunnyT- _Every time you mention chapter 8 I forget what happens in it and have to go look it up again. Hehe, it's not so much that the _biggest _things are happening in Chapter Eight, I just meant there's a lot going on! And what didn't I teach you?

_GrednForge101- _Hmph, I must be less subtle than I thought ...but it's a good thing you like it, because it'll be happening for a while ;

_Miss-Swissy-_ I've never really determined what I thought of Draco/Ginny... AND I DIDN'T STOP UPDATING, I JUST GOT BUSY VERY QUICKLY! ...wait a minute...your...all-time favorite? oo I'M HONORED! NOW I WILL WRITE VERY QUICKLY! ((Note, I'm updating this as I finish the chapter. Aahha. BUT I'LL START CHAPTER SIX RIGHT NOW!))

_doublelily_- Where are you? I hope you haven't fallen into a deep pit somewhere out in a forest, away from civilization, where nobody will find you for days since I'm the only one who realizes what's happened to you! Or, more likely, that you haven't forgotten me!

---------------

Daphne woke up in a good mood. She couldn't remember the details of her dream the night before, but she remembered romance, which meant it was about Draco. Further improving her good mood was that she had forgotten that Seiko woke the room up every morning by blasting her favorite band, and was pleasantly surprised by the wake-up call.

The mood had lasted through Transfiguration and was still carrying on as she and Draco made their way to Herbology, having met up in the halls. Draco stepped forward and opened the door for her. "After you," he said, gesturing into the room.

Daphne smiled and entered. "Why, thank you," she replied, curtseying slightly. Draco laughed and kissed her, and Daphne took her seat.

"Well, aren't you two just sickening?"

The voice wasn't male, nor was it Irish, meaning it wasn't Seamus complaining. Daphne turned to see Pansy Parkinson looking most displeased. "Really, you two ought to do that somewhere we don't have to watch."

Daphne rolled her eyes, and heard a snickering from next to her. Seamus was laughing with a satisfied look on his face.

Pansy turned to glare at him. "And you think this is _funny, _Finnigan?" she snapped.

"I certainly do, Parkinson," Seamus replied. "If you're making fun of each other, you're doing us Gryffindors' job for us."

Unable to think of a reply, Pansy scowled and faced forward in her seat, away from them. Seamus smiled, seemingly pleased with himself, and Daphne rolled her eyes.

_Piss him off, _whispered the Slytherin that lived inside of Daphne's head. _Don't let him get away with that. _

She couldn't think of anything particularly witty, however, so she settled for saying, "You're pretty cocky for someone who isn't anything more than a half-blood," as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

She could hear the chair move as Seamus turned to face her. "Say that again, why don't you?" he threatened.

Daphne opened one eye to look at him, still relaxing in her seat. "Oh, a _noble _Gryffindor like you wouldn't hit a girl, would you?" she asked in a mocking tone, daring him to start a fight. She knew that nothing would happen to her - not in the middle of a classroom with a Professor only thirty feet away.

Seamus took a deep breath and seemed to calm down. He sat normally in his seat, and rested his head on his hand. "You're right, I wouldn't," he replied lightly.

Opening her other eye, Daphne looked at him suspiciously. "What?"

"I won't hit a girl," he repeated.

Daphne blinked. She hadn't expected this to calm him down. She'd been trying to rile him up. _But how do you reply to something like that? _she complained in her mind. _What sort of insults can you respond to chivalry with? _She opened her mouth, just to see what would come out, but she was interrupted.

"Hey, Daph!" Seiko's call came from across the room. Daphne realized that Seiko had never sat down, and wondered what she'd been up to. Abandoning her conversation with Seamus, she stood and replied to her friend's summons and crossed the classroom.

"Yeah?"

Seiko lowered her voice and grinned. "Guess who I've been talking to?" she asked in a sing-song voice.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Who?"

"Blaise."

Daphne raised her eyebrows. "Zabini?"

"No, Daphne, the _other _Blaise in this classroom," Seiko replied sarcastically. "Anyway, he says things aren't going so great with Jillian right now, and I think we all know what this means."

"Oh, do we now?"

Seiko smiled suggestively and winked at Daphne. "Yes, we do."

Daphne held up her hands protectively. "Hey now, Sei, don't go flirting with _me."_

Seiko laughed. "No offense, Daph, you're not my type. And _you _aren't the one I plan to flirt with."

Rolling her eyes again, Daphne asked, "So what's going on between Blaise and Jillian?"

"Oh, he says she was being too bubbly for him, and that they got in an argument last night," Seiko explained.

Daphne nodded. She had noticed that Jillian had gone to bed a bit late last night, and had been quiet all through breakfast. Although she knew - and would bet that Seiko knew, too - that a fight between a couple hardly meant that things were over between them, especially given Jillian's eager-to-please nature. Seiko's relationships were usually bumpy, too, but apparently she was letting this fact slide. "So let me guess," she said, "Now you're going to watch them very carefully, and the second that it ends between them, you'll make your move."

Seiko smiled innocently. "Nope."

_No? _Daphne thought, eyebrows raising at her friend's unexpected reply. _This could go two ways. _"Well then, noble Seiko, you've chosen not to interfere in another's relationship, thus granting Jillian another chance with the boy she fancies?"

Seiko stared, then raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes I wonder why you're a Slytherin, Daph," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. Her expression then grew into a smirk. "I'm going to make my move _now, _so that if things ever go bad between the two of them, I'll be the first one he thinks of."

"Sow your seeds, Sei," Daphne said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Do what you gotta do." Seiko laughed and turned to leave, then stopped and faced Daphne again.

"Daphne, what were you and Seamus arguing about?"

"Oh. He was being far too Gryffindor-ish. I was putting him in his place."

Seiko raised an eyebrow. _(Dammit! She'll have to teach me sometime.)_ "It didn't look like it. It looked like you couldn't think of a single thing to say. That's part of the reason I called you over when I did - you looked like you needed it."

Daphne pouted. "Really? Too bad, I thought I had a guardian angel."

"You do," Seiko replied. "Me!" With an innocent (or something like that) smile, Seiko flounced back to Zabini and Daphne headed back to her seat.

Professor Sprout soon after collected their review worksheets and began a length explanation of the lab they would be working on. Daphne promptly tuned her out, choosing instead to see if she could remember her dream. Of course, the more she tried to remember it, the less she could remember, until the only memories she had left were those of her thinking about it as she got dressed. She sighed, turning to Seamus as he straightened out some parchment.

"So what are we doing again?" she asked boredly, which was quite an accurate portrayal, as she really _was _bored.

Seamus stopped messing with his parchment and looked at her blankly. "I assumed you were listening."

"Did I _look _like I was listening?" Daphne scoffed.

"You were staring intently at the teacher and nodding at the end of her sentences. So yes."

Daphne exhaled deeply. She had long since mastered the art of acting like she was listening when she really wasn't - it was a skill one learned when they were friends with one such as Seiko, and attended a school such as...any school. She sometimes forgot not everyone knew that she actually didn't hear a single word that was said. "Well, I wasn't!" she snapped. She turned to Seiko. "Sei! Hey, _Seiko!"_

Seiko whirled sharply in her seat, irritation showing clearly on her face. "_What!_"

Holding up her hands as if to surrender, Daphne raised her eyebrows. "Hey! Whoa, Sei, it's me!"

"Sorry. Dealing with Mr. Boy-who-lived here gets old _fast."_

Daphne laughed. "I bet. Anyway, what are we doing?"

Seiko rolled her eyes. "Ask Seamus."

"He wasn't listening."

"Oh...well, it's a stupid 'get to know your partner that you don't even want to sit by' thing. We're writing three paragraphs on our partner. Their family - and do _NOT_ get Potter here even _started _on that subject - where they're from, and what they did this summer."

"...you have to write about Harry Potter's family?"

Seiko clenched her fists. "_Yes! _I'm going to kill something!"

"Well, Seamus here said he won't hit a girl."

Seamus shot her a look. "Never said I wouldn't hex one."

Daphne smiled and faced forward in her seat, dramatically whipping out a fresh sheet of parchment. _"Now _then," she said, "What did _you _do last summer, Mr. Finnigan?"

------

"And remember, with that report I just assigned, you've got a good amount of homework for it being so early in the year. I'm sorry, but that's how it goes!" Professor Sprout laughed. "It's easy, though, so get to work!"

As everyone cleared the desks, Draco stepped up behind Daphne and put his hand on her waist. Daphne grinned and spun around, giggling. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Seamus glare at them and then start busying himself with organizing his papers. His papers which he was about to put away and didn't need to organize. He was distracting himself.

_Bingo._

Daphne smiled wider, lacing her arms around Draco's neck. She leaned her head against his chest, turning so she could still watch Seamus - Draco was a good bit taller than she was. _So is Seamus, _she thought. _I guess I have a thing for tall guys. _She tried to figure out some way to modify that sentence to exclude Seamus in present tense, but gave up quickly.

"Greengrass, meet me in the library after dinner to work on that report," Seamus snapped, still too "busy" with his papers to look at them.

"You know, Seamus, I'd love to," Daphne said, tilting her head up as Draco leaned his down to kiss her on the forehead. She giggled and continued, "But you know, I was planning to spend this evening with my boyfriend." She lowered her arms and turned around so her back was against his chest. "I wouldn't want him to get lonely."

"_Look,_ D-er, Greengrass, I want to get this over with as soon as we can. I don't exactly like the idea of having to spend time with you looming over me schedule."

Daphne was glad she was already acting so lovey-dovey over Draco, or she might have had to fight off a smile at the sound of his accent. ..._Wait, what? No! That's not true at all, I wouldn't have smiled...I don't even like him! _ She scolded herself internally.

"And _I_ don't exactly like the way you're talking to my girlfriend," Draco snapped, looking up from Daphne to glare disdainfully at Seamus.

Seamus narrowed his eyes at Draco and opened his mouth to give some smartass reply, but stopped himself. "I'm not trying to start a fight," he said through gritted teeth. "But we need to get this paper done. And I'd like to do it this evening."

"Sorry, Seamus, but this evening is definitely reserved as boyfriend night. Maybe if _you _were my boyfriend we could get something done," she teased, watching him tense up as she spoke, "But of course, that's not going to happen."

His hand had a wad of parchment in a death-grip, and he looked ready to hit something. _Mission accomplished._

"Should we get going, Draco?" Daphne asked lightly, taking his arm. Draco smiled at her and the two made their way out of the room, leaving behind a fuming Seamus.

-----

Due to an odd schedule, there was no Herbology the next day. Daphne was glad to be away from Seamus - as much fun as it was to pick on him, she didn't want it to get old too fast.

_Speaking of getting old fast, _Daphne thought, raising her eyebrows as she listened to Seiko chatter about her latest conversation with Blaise, _Seiko won't shut up about Zabini. If she's not talking to him, she's talking about him._

"But you remember when I said that I thought I was making progress?" Seiko asked.

"Sei, you said that an hour ago. I remember."

Seiko grinned, almost sheepishly. "Well, I was more right than I thought. He's completely flirting back with me. I winked at him across the room and he winked right back."

"That's great, Seiko, have fun being the other woman."

Sighing, Seiko rested her head on her hands. "Oh, why are you being so uptight about this?"

"I'm not being uptight, but it seems like the little voice inside your head called a conscience isn't working, so I'm making sure that _someone _reminds you what you're doing. Or rather, trying to do."

Seiko laughed. "I'm fine, Daph. Don't worry, I won't do anything that I'd regret."

Sticking out her tongue, Daphne turned into the Transfiguration classroom. "I'm more concerned about what you _won't _regret," she muttered.

-----

Daphne complained irritably to herself as she _failed miserably _at the current assignment. Her teacup could change colors with the best of them, but there was no way it would end up as anything resembling a pair of glasses. This was Seiko's forte.

It wasn't Jillian's specialty either, Daphne realized as she watched Jillian walk to the front of the room to ask the professor what must have been her third question in twenty minutes. They always resulted in lengthy discussions after which Jillian returned to her desk looking like she understood, but quickly realizing she still had no idea what she was doing.

Daphne sighed, giving up and trying to see if she could get her teacup to turn purple instead. As Jillian leaned over McGonagall's desk to ask her question, Daphne turned around to see how Seiko was doing.

Seiko was, as Daphne had suspected, being quite successful - although Daphne hadn't correctly guessed at _what. _Sneaking a glance to the front of the room to make sure Jillian was turned away, Blaise Zabini was subtly leaning over to quickly kiss Seiko - leaning back into his seat as soon as Jillian got her answer.

_Well damn, _Daphne thought to herself, resting her head on her left hand and zapping her teacup absentmindedly.

-----

"Despite her Japanese heritage, viewers at home may be surprised to know that Seiko Shimokawa is _not _in possession of the stealthiness of a ninja in any way, shape, or form," Daphne declared, taking a seat next to her best friend at dinner.

"Nor is she psychic; what are you getting at?"

Daphne grinned as she turned to face Seiko, leaning in and speaking quietly so as not to be overheard. "You and Zabini in Transfigurations today, every time Jillian's back was turned."

Seiko leaned back in her chair, her arms folded confidently. "I'm _sure _I don't know what you're talking about."

"_I'm _sure the entire Slytherin house knows," Daphne replied.

"Nah, nobody else would have seen. We were way back in the room. You were the only one who would have turned around to look."

"And what are you going to do when one of her friends sees you two and tells Jillian?"

"We're going to do _nothing, _because that's not going to happen," Seiko delared. "Besides, Daph, I've got reasons that you're going to be glad that I've been talking to Blaise."

"I'm pretty sure that _talking _isn't what you two were doing with your mouths," Daphne noted sarcastically, "..but what are these reasons?"

"Well, I've found out why Parkinson's been all bitchy with you lately."

This _was _a good reason, Daphne noted to herself. In addition to the morning's argument, she had been noticing lots of dirty looks from the girl since the year had begun. When it was just one or two occurrences, she brushed it off as unimportant, but after a few times - and after she recalled the glare sent her way on the train ride - she started wondering what the reason was.

"Why?"

"Well apparently, Miss Pansy was in the process of trying to woo Draco. She was trying to get back together with him, and you sort of interfered."

"Sort of."

"Yeah, sort of."

Daphne leaned back, sighing. "So now she's out for me?"

"...yeah. I mean, as long as you're with him she probably won't be willing to risk really upsetting you. She doesn't want to lose any favor with him."

Daphne nodded thoughtfully and glanced over at Pansy. She sighed and shook her head. Pansy Parkinson was not someone you wanted as an enemy. She could pack a real punch, and came from a very prestigious family. She was probably the second last person in Slytherin that you wanted to piss off.

_Luckily I'm on pretty good terms with the very last person, _she thought with a smile. At just that moment Parkinson happened to glance Daphne's way. She sent a warning glare out, and Daphne returned it with a sarcastically friendly grin. Pansy scowled and turned away, and Daphne rolled her eyes.

"Great, now I have to deal with Seamus in Herbology and her...for almost the entire rest of the day," Daphne muttered.

"You have to deal with her in Herbology, too," Seiko corrected.

Daphne shook her head. "No, I don't. Today we were arguing and Seamus made some comment about how nice it is for Gryffindors when Slytherins tear each _other _apart. As much as she hates me, she wouldn't prove a half-blood Gryffindor right just to get a snide comment in."

"Ah," nodded Seiko. She seemed to think for a moment, and then remembered something. "Hey, weren't you supposed to be having fun screwing with Seamus' mind?"

Daphne quickly brightened up. "Oh yeah! Hey...I'm pissing off Parkinson just as much, aren't I?" The thought of angering someone capable of seriously screwing her life up would have worried her if not for the fact that by emphasizing how close she was to Draco, she was just reinforcing Parkinson's fear of angering him through Daphne. So instead, the thought cheered her up.

Seiko laughed. "I suppose so."

Smiling contentedly, Daphne helped herself to a drink of water.

Herbology was quickly becoming her favorite class.

----------

**A/N:** AHAHA NO I'M NOT A SLOW UPDATER I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! ...really, though, it's because I've been doing WAY TOO MUCH this summer. I've hardly gotten any time at home and when I did, _finally, _my computer promptly ceased to function. Stupid (I mean, beloved) piece of crap (I mean, wonderfulness)

So, a ton of you guys guessed the whole Blaise/Seiko thing. I hate you guys.


	6. Queen of Hearts

**Queen Of Hearts**

**A/N: **Tee hee, this chapter starts with _kissing. _Hey you guys, chapter 5 was the longest chapter since the first one! (And it will be a long time, I think, before any are as long as the first one).

Seamus talks a lot in this one. That's dangerous. It means that I will totally forget to write in his accent. PREPARE FOR INCONSISTENCY.

_FanFicFanatick-_ I will I will I WILL update soon! (That reminds me of that DDR song...I do I do do I do, do I do love you!)

_doublelily- _Yaaay! You liiive:3 I don't have facebook, and I like never use my livejournal. I have lots of IMs though!

_Miss-Swissy- _Actually the email I use on isn't my normal email...soo...if you emailed me I didn't get it. TT try tannyei at hotmail. And I do too want reviews :P

_Lilybet Edyvean- _Now YOU'VE fallen in a pit :( or more likely, school has started back up for you. As it is doing for me tomorrow.

----------

Daphne's eyes fluttered opened for a split second and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, the time suddenly registering in her mind. "Bloody hell," she muttered, sitting up.

Draco looked at her as soon as he felt Daphne's lips pull away from his. "What?"

"I have to go. I'm meeting Seamus in the library to work on our bloody paper," she complained, starting to stand.

Draco sighed. "You're leaving for _that? _What, he can't wait a few minutes?"

Pausing, Daphne turned back to her boyfriend. "Now that you mention it..." Sitting herself back down where she'd been moments before, she grinned. "He could stand to be a bit more patient," she agreed, leaning towards him.

-----

And fifteen minutes later, she cheerfully strolled through the doors of the library, books and parchment in hand. She glanced around loftily until she saw Seamus sitting and fuming at a table on his own, and wandered over.

"Sorry I'm late," she declared as she took a seat next to the Gryffindor. "Except I'm not."

"I'm sure you're not," Seamus muttered, not looking up from the paper he was writing on.

"Well, you know, some people just aren't very good at keeping time," Daphne rambled absentmindedly, flipping through a book without bothering to read it.

Seamus looked at her sideways, turning his eyes but not his head as he replied. "You were never this late last summer," he said simply, returning to his writing immediately afterwards.

Daphne was surprised - partially at the cleverness of his comment (which, as a Slytherin, she could not help but admire), but mostly at his willingless to bring it up. For the most part the two had been pretending as though it had never existed during conversations. Luckily, she had a comeback. Leaning back in her chair, she sighed contentedly. "I was never this happy, either," she countered.

She was fairly sure she saw Seamus cringe, and afterwards there was a long silence. With a self-satisfied smile on her face, she began writing down bibliography entries for the books they were looking at, unsure which parts of the essay Seamus was already taking care of as he wrote furiously.

After a few minutes, though, the silence started to get to Daphne. She couldn't stand being around people - even people she didn't like - without there being any sort of noise, especially if there was no communication.

"Is the Hogsmeade trip this weekend or next weekend? Do you know?"

There was a bit of a pause before Seamus answered her. "This weekend."

"Oh," Daphne answered, turning back to her bibliography. She finished up the final entry and found herself with a someone awkward silence and nothing to do. "What are you writing about now?" she asked.

Seamus slapped a piece of paper down between them. It was a bullet list of the topics each paragraph would cover. "I'm on paragraph three."

"Three?"

"You can get a lot done when you're waiting for for two Slytherins to get their mouths separated," he replied irritably.

Daphne paused for a moment. "...well, I'll start on paragraph four, then," she announced, making her tone cheerful to counteract Seamus' annoyance. She opened the nearest book and started looking for the information she'd need.

With the two of them working in (mostly) silence, and Seamus already halfway done with the paper, the two made pretty good time on the paper. As Daphne started writing the concluding paragraph, it occurred to her that she had annoyed Seamus much less than she would have liked in the last few minutes. To solve this problem, she started flipping pages as loudly as she could, while tapping her nails on the table distractedly.

Seamus succeeded in ignoring her for a while, but eventually he turned to glare at her. "You can't _stand _not being the center of attention, can you?" he asked, his tone (understandably) harsh.

Daphne was offended. "Excuse me!"

"The nail tapping. The page flipping. The making out with your boyfriend in the middle of a crowded hallway just so people will look at you."

Daphne stood up quickly, glad that they were the only ones in the library right now and weren't making a scene. "Has it ever _occurred _to you that maybe I happen to like my boyfriend very much, and am making out with him because I _want _to?" She leaned forward and smiled mockingly. "Maybe you're jealous, Mr. Finnigan?"

Seamus opened his mouth to say something, then closed his eyes and sighed instead. He opened them again and looked Daphne right in the eyes. It made her feel a bit uncomfortable - there was a truthfulness there that she wasn't accustomed to.

"Maybe I am," he replied quietly.

Prepared to come up with a witty retort to whatever came out of Seamus' mouth, Daphne instead found herself caught entirely off-guard. "...what?" she asked weakly.

"Maybe I _am _jealous. Maybe I haven't quite gotten over you yet. Maybe I'm having trouble accepting the fact that just a few weeks ago I had a great girl to spend every day with, and now one of the people I can't stand the most in this world has that same girl all to himself." As he spoke, his voice was rising. "And maybe I've got problems with the fact that that same girl has turned into some raging bitch who takes some _twisted _joy in my unhappiness-" he was getting louder still, and Daphne was very afraid he was about to approach a shout, "and spends her _every moment with me _trying to see how much she can _piss me off!"_

Daphne stood in shock for a moment, the outburst completely unexpected on every count. She took a deep breath and began gathering up the parchment and a few books. Balancing them all on top of each other and turning to leave, she nodded.

"Yeah, maybe," she agreed, taking her leave.

-----

She felt kind of mean for the whole Seamus thing that had taken place earlier. Kind of. _I mean, it's not like I care about him or anything, right? _She thought, waiting for Seiko to arrive in the Great Hall for dinner. Since Seiko had started spending more time with Blaise (it sort of amazed Daphne how clueless Jillian could be about the whole thing), meals were some of the only times they got to talk. And Daphne had a lot to talk about. _And he's a Gryffindor, _she continued internally. _Gryffindor, as in, the enemy. So why do I feel bad? _

She was pretty sure there was a fairly obvious answer to the question - maybe something having to do with her not being quite as cruel as she acted, or something - but that wasn't the answer she wanted to settle on. _I guess that it's been a while since I've been around people I was supposed to be mean to, and now I'm just not used to it yet, _she reassured herself.

Seiko, bubbly as ever, sat down excitedly next to her. "Daphne!" she greeted.

"Hey, Sei! I've got something to tell you," Daphne declared.

"Okay, but first, I have to ask you a quick favor."

Daphne didn't want to have to wait to tell her story, but she nodded.

"So you know, Blaise and I kind of spent a good amount of lunch in the library, doing what I assure you is completely innocent."

_Which means it wasn't, _Daphne thought with a sigh.

"But what's-her-face, Jillian, sort of was a little suspicious of the story that Blaise gave her. He said he wasn't feeling well and stopped by the Hospital Wing for a bit, but one of her friends was in there and says she doesn't remember seeing him come by. So is there any way you could go talk to her, maybe kind of mention seeing Blaise down in the Hospital Wing or something so that she doesn't interfere?

Daphne groaned. "Seiko, are you serious? I don't like this whole situation to begin with. Now you want me to go lie to his _actual girlfriend _who has done no wrong, so that she _doesn't _find out that her boyfriend is cheating on her?"

Seiko pouted. "Oh, come on, Daphne! I mean, it's not like I'm just some fling. We really like each other! You couldn't get in the way of that, could you?"

In all honesty, Daphne wished she could. This whole thing bugged her, further proof that she wasn't as mean as she liked to believe. But there was one person in the world that could turn her into a pushover, and that person was sitting right next to her. "Alright, whatever. I'll do it."

"Thank you, Daphne! You know it's for a good cause, Daph. I really, really like him already, like...I think maybe it's love."

"It's _so _not love, Sei."

"You don't know that!"

Daphne shook her head, but then suddenly remembered she still had a story she wanted to tell. "Oh, I still have to tell you something!"

"Right! What is it?"

"Okay, so I show up to meet Seamus so we can work on our Herbology essay."

"Shit." Seiko cringed.

Daphne laughed. "You totally forgot to do it, didn't you?"

"...maybe. Keep talking."

"Well, thanks to a little bit of distraction on the boyfriend front, I was kind of late."

"How late?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"Geez."

"Yeah. Stop interrupting me. Anyway, he's pissed because I'm so late, and he's long since gotten started on the essay on his own. So he makes some little jab at me about how I was never this late over the summer, and I tell him I was never this happy, either. Which pisses him off _more, _so we don't really talk for a while."

Seiko laughed. She knew full well of Daphne's hatred of long silences. "So then you start asking little questions just to break the silence," she guessed.

Daphne grinned guiltily. "Yeah. Then some talking happens - annoyed talking, as in arguing, mind you - and then he mentions how annoying it is when Draco and I kiss in the hallways. So I said he was just jealous, and he freaked out."

Seiko's eyebrows raised. "What, saying that you were wrong?"

"No," Daphne answered her friend, "Saying that I was _right._"

Jaw dropping, Seiko started laughing. "No way! Seriously?"

"Yeah. And then I kind of blew him off and left."

Seiko shook her head disbelievingly. "That's...jeez, Daph, he must really like you still if he'd admit that."

Daphne nodded, unsure how she should feel about that. "Oh boy, I'm not looking forward to our next Herbology class," she said with a sigh.

Seiko nodded, took a bite of salad, and changed the subject.

-----

Daphne folded up her homework, tucking it into her books and getting up to go to bed. She heard a giggle, and it registered as Jillian's.

Jillian. Right. Daphne sighed and turned towards the bubbly redhead. Time to lie so that her friend could keep having an affair. "Hey, Jillian?"

Turning around, Jillian smiled cheerfully. "Yeah?"

"I saw your boyfriend in the hospital wing earlier today. Is he okay?"

There was a pause in the conversation, and then Jillian asked, "...you saw him there?"

"Yeah."

Jillian looked relieved. "He told me he just wasn't feeling well, so he's fine now. What about you?"

Daphne was taken by surprise. "What?"

"Well, why were _you _in the hospital wing?"

"Oh. Um, I was just walking by and saw him going in, that's all. I didn't actually go in," Daphne lied.

Nodding, Jillian smiled. "Oh, I see."

"Well, goodnight," Daphne said awkwardly after a moment. Jillian waved goodbye and Daphne headed up to her room to get ready for bed. She was the only one getting ready at the time. It was a pretty average time to be going to bed, being 10:00. _But none of us go to bed at average times, _she thought to herself as she changed into pajamas. _We all stay up late talking and trying to finish homework at the last minute. _

However, she had a lot to think about. Not things she necessarily wanted to think about - how she had rudely blown off someone who confessed his feelings for her, how she had lied to a perfectly nice (if not very smart) girl just so that her friend could keep having an affair, and - since she was, at this point, just listing things that she felt guilty about - how she hadn't written her mother a letter from school in almost two years.

Not one to dwell on feelings she didn't enjoy, she rolled over and thought happy things about boyfriends instead as she fell asleep.

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**A/N: **Aww, Daphne feels guilty. It will not be the last night she goes to sleep feeling like that. Trust me. I even specify it in my chapter overviews I have written out! I'm all, "Daphne goes to bed feeling bad."

These overviews are very top-secret though and you can't look. :O In fact, pretend you never heard about them. This message will self destruct in 10... 9... 8...

(uh oh, better hurry and go review.)


	7. Moment of Impact

**Moment of Impact**

**A/N: **For your convenience (and due to my short attention span) I started writing this chapter before I finished chapter 6, while I was on a writer's block for what was going to happen next in _that _chapter. Sooo it'll be up even sooner! (Although by the time you read this, it will already be up. Hello, readers from the _future!_)

That's what I wrote some million years ago. Now I know that even that didn't help…it's been ages since I posted a new chapter. What else is new, huh? But just so you all know, even if it takes me a really long time to finish a chapter, I'll still keep working on it! I don't plan to give up on this fanfiction, ever! So don't give up on me:D

HOLY CRAP I GOT A LOT OF REVIEWS ON THIS CHAPTER! Seriously, I posted it, then like in two days I had _ten new reviews. _I love you guys.

_NazgulGirl­- _And it makes it very hard to think of any way to end this freaking thing (eventually).

_doublelily_- Yeah, I feel sort of bad for her, too...

_100-percent-Harry-Potter-obsessed- _Sankyousankyousankyou.

_FanFicFanatick-_ Whoops, a slip of the tongue? And yeah, I know what you mean. I'd be like, "I'm sorry, did you say you were _Irish?_ ...maybe we should go somewhere a little more private."

_sunsun- _You make me happy with your nice review :D

_Lilybet Edyvean- _She is a real meanie sometimes, mainly when she's overcompensating for her inner niceness that she won't admit is there. To make up for it, she acts extra-rude. Buuut now that she's starting to feel guilty she'll take it down a notch :3

_BunnyT- _And re-enact you did. It went something like, "Eeeeee!!"

_Secca Irises- _Raiding my house sounds like a _bad_ idea.

_anonymous- _Thanks :)

_Miss-Swissy- _ I'll try he's not in this chapter, though.

_Elolinone- _ I hope you enjoy

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"Oh, Daphne, it's just _so _great," Seiko chirped happily as the two walked through the halls. "Love is such a wonderful thing, Daphne."

"Seiko, you've been dating him - no, not even, you've been_ helping him cheat _for only a few days now. That's hardly enough time to fall in love."

Seiko shook her head, laughing slightly, and gave Daphne a knowing look. "Daphne, trust me, I know. This is _love. _He's all I think about."

"I know. He's all you _talk _about."

"I'm a strong believer in love at first sight, Daphne. At least, I am now."

This had been the general direction of the pair's conversations for a day or two now. Daphne was getting sick of it, and fast. "When you get bored of him and dump him, Seiko, remind me to laugh at you."

"Not going to happen. Someday, Daphne, _you'll _fall in love, and _you'll _know how wonderful it is."

Daphne gritted her teeth. Not only was she almost positive that Seiko had no idea what she was talking about, but she couldn't stand how condescending Seiko was acting.

"And then I'll tell you that I-"

"Seiko, Draco and I slept together last night," Daphne announced, slowing her pace.

Seiko stopped dead. "_What!? _Really?!"

"_No, _not really, but it was the only thing I could think of that would shut you up," Daphne replied, rolling her eyes and continuing to walk as Seiko scoffed and hurried to catch up.

"Speaking of shutting people up," Seiko began innocently, "I kind of need you to talk to Jillian again."

"Seiko, no. I'm not lying to her again."

"You don't have to, this time! Just talk to her during Herbology, distract her for a while. Blaise and I are going to make some plans and that's the only chance we're going to get."

"Seiko..."

"Please? You're not doing anything dishonest."

Daphne sighed, shaking her head. Seiko knew as well as Daphne did that no matter how much Daphne complained, she would still do it. "Assisting a criminal is dishonest," she muttered under her breath, kicking a rock towards the greenhouse as they walked up. She shivered a bit, looking up at the sky. "Summer's ending too quickly," she complained, opening the door and stepping into the warm Herbology classroom.

Her own personal issues came flying back onto her mental radar of concerns as she saw Seamus shoot her a dirty look and turn away. "Bloody hell. That's right. I forgot about Seamus," she hissed quietly to Seiko.

"Handle it like a Slytherin," Seiko replied with a wink as the two took their seats.

_I don't think most Slytherins find themselves in this situation, _Daphne thought as she rested her face in her hands. _Having to deal with an Herbology partner whose love proclamation you blew off the day before. _She smiled to herself as she continued her mental monologue. _Actually, a lot of Slytherins probably find themselves in that position. What's rare is that the partner's a Gryffindor, and that I happened to have a fling with him... before I knew he was a Gryffindor, _she defended.

Done talking to herself in her head, Daphne looked around the classroom a bit. Nothing exciting was going on, and much to her annoyance, there were no conversations going on around her. Bloody silences.

"The essay is due tomorrow, right?" she asked nonchalantly.

Seamus didn't answer.

"Finnigan?"

Didn't answer.

"Hello-o?"

Still no answer. Seamus was ignoring her.

Daphne _hated _being ignored. Partially because she didn't like when people were mad enough to ignore her, and partially because of the silences it led to.

And she still felt bad about the whole thing, and didn't like this blatant reminder that she was the bad guy in this scenario. She didn't like that she was the one to blame here, and she didn't like that she still felt guilty about it.

_Why do I feel so bad, anyway? He's a Gryffindor! I take pleasure in their pain! It doesn't make sense! _Daphne shook the idea out of her head and got the required work done in the class. Seiko caught her eye a few minutes later, gesturing with a tilt of her head towards Jillian.

Right. How did she manage to always forget that? Daphne stood up and headed over to Jillian. "Hey, Jillian?" she asked, tapping the redhead on the shoulder. Suddenly she realized she had no idea what she was going to say. Time to improvise.

"Hi, Daphne!"

Daphne saw Seiko stand up behind Jillian's head and walk over to Blaise. Mind racing to think of a conversation starter, Daphne took a seat to stall. "Um, I have a question for you!"

"For me? Sure, go ahead!"

"Do you..." Daphne paused, trying to figure out something to say. "Do you...know the school policy regarding scarves?" she asked. _Scarves!? What the hell!?_

Jillian's reaction seemed to agree with Daphne's internal comment. "...scarves?"

"Yeah! You know, because over vacation I bought this really cute green scarf, right, and I want to wear it. But obviously, it's not my school uniform scarf...and I was wondering if you would know what the policy was about that? I mean, do you think I could wear it?"

"Oh, I see," nodded Jillian. "I mean, I think that if it was like, a Christmas scarf or something...or maybe a blue one...they probably wouldn't be so cool with it, but if it's green, then it's like, house colors, right?"

"Right! You know, so I was thinking that _exact _thing, and I mean, do you think they'd mind? It looks like a cuter version of the house scarves." Daphne realized she was largely just repeating Jillian, but she was only trying to waste time anyway.

Jillian shook her head. "You know, I really don't see why not. At the very least, you should try it one day and just see if anyone complains."

Seiko smiled at Blaise and winked at Daphne, turning away. Daphne nodded. "Alright, sounds like a plan," she agreed. "Thank you!"

Jillian nodded also. "Welcome!"

Daphne headed back to her seat, shooting Seiko a look as she did so. Seiko leaned in and smiled. "Sorry about that, Daph."

Daphne rolled her eyes, scowling. "You owe me big time," she replied, turning to face the front of the class.

"Well, now! Sorry, I was a bit preoccupied. Gave you longer than I meant to for that assignment," Professor Sprout announced, her voice unnecessarily loud to call the students' attention. "Anyway, I realized the paper I had you writing was a bit much to be due so soon, what with having homework in so many other classes…and, more importantly," she added, winking, "A Quidditch game tonight. However, the way I've got my days planned, I can't give you all an extension… instead, I'll be giving you the rest of the period to work on it." She smiled. "That said…get to work!"

As the professor returned to her desk and the students all resumed their conversations with their friends, Daphne pulled a pile of parchment out of the bag she'd carried. "I finished up the paragraphs I'd been working on," she said, not planning to give Seamus a chance to respond if he wasn't going to. "I wasn't sure if you were going to write the conclusion or if I was supposed to, so I wrote it anyway. I'm pretty sure it's absolute shit, so if you _did _happen to write one, that might be the one to go with." She nudged a scrawled paragraph towards him.

Seamus was silent, staring towards the front of the room as if he hadn't heard her.

Daphne scowled. "But in the off-chance that it's _not _absolute shit, you probably should _read _it," she added, her voice tinged with annoyance.

Seamus didn't even blink.

Rolling her eyes, Daphne poked him in the arm with the paragraph and huffed, "_Or_, in the off-chance that I didn't even _write_ anything, and I'm currently poking you with a _blank sheet_, you should probably actually _look _at it."

Seamus turned his head ever-so-slightly and gave Daphne a glare so intense that it could…well, shut up a Slytherin, for one thing. Daphne bit her lip as Seamus returned his gaze to the front of the room.

"It's not blank, though," Daphne concluded lamely, setting the sheet on top of her pile and leaning her head in her hands. This was quickly turning out to be her least favorite Herbology class to date. Her stomach was starting to hurt a bit, just from her feeling upset.

_Why do I feel that bad? _She asked herself. _Why am I that upset? It's not my problem! I mean, the silence is, and the horribly-written conclusion is, but other than that, I'm not the one with troubles here! I shouldn't feel like this!_

If she couldn't work on the assignment with her partner (not that anyone else was), she figured she may as well get to the bottom of her bad mood. She had a sinking feeling that it was going to take her somewhere she didn't want to go…but she was going to have to do this sooner or later. It was what she did when she had a problem she needed to sort out…she started with her problem, and just kept asking why.

It was like talking to some obnoxiously curious little kid, but it was the easiest way to answer her questions. Generally she had Seiko sit down with her and ask her, but right now it looked like both Seiko and her partner were rushing to write the essay they had both completely forgotten.

_So let's see,_ she began. _Why am I upset?_

She shook her head. That wasn't going to work…she didn't know. That was the question she was trying to figure out.

_Something else, then…what do I want? _

_Well, I want Seamus to quit ignoring me._

Now she was getting somewhere. Why?

_Because I want to talk to him._

Why?

_Well…because I like talking to him._

The next question was one that she couldn't believe she'd thought of as it popped into her mind.

_Do you like teasing him? Or do you want to actually talk to him, like you used to?_

Daphne found her reaction guarded at first, as if afraid that someone would overhear her, or possibly that somehow someone could find out just by her thinking about it.

Or, more likely, as if admitting it to herself would mean admitting that she was wrong about a lot of things.

But she knew the answer.

_I want to talk to him like I did in Ireland, _she thought, stopping to make sure her external expression wasn't revealing her internal surprise at her own honesty.

_Why?_

It was all Daphne could do to keep herself from lying, to simply end the one-person conversation there. She knew, though, that she'd gone too far to turn back now.

_Because I still have feelings for him._

She felt like banging her head against the wall, but settled for just letting out a groan and laying her head facedown on her crossed arms

She still liked Seamus.

_Shit._

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A/N: "Alright, I'm going to go play the Sims 2," I told myself. "I'll close all my windows." So I close the internet and there's this thing, sitting there and glaring at me…So I figured I'd finish up the chapter.

Daphne is conflicted :)


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